To collect together Elgar’s orchestral music associated with images of childhood is an eminently sensible idea, and it makes for an enterprising and imaginative programme. With high standards of playing and recording, this Naxos disc therefore makes a welcome entry to the catalogue.

James Judd is a skilful and experienced conductor with an international pedigree, and he draws some very sensitive playing from the New Zealand Orchestra. This is important in this repertoire, not least in The Wand of Youth, which is not quite as early a piece as the Opus 1 designation suggests. The final version of these short pieces, based on material from the composer’s childhood and youth, is from 1907-8, contemporary with the First Symphony, when Elgar was fifty. And his experience as an orchestrator shows in every bar, whether the music be refined and delicate, or powerful and exciting.

Judd has the measure of these contrasts, as found for example in the final two pieces, entitled The Tame Bear and The Wild Bears. While the performance of Sir Adrian Boult (EMI) remains that touch more vivid and the leader in the field, this new recording gives ample satisfaction.

The same might also be said of Dream Children, perhaps the best music in the collection. Although composed before the final version of The Wand of Youth, the material is mature rather than recycled, though Elgar still claimed it used ideas originating from ‘a few years back’. Be that as it may, this is a penetrating example of Elgar’s wistful, fragile emotional outlook. Judd secures some fine playing, and his phrasing seems just right too.

The Nursery Suite was one of the few works to have been completed during the composer’s final years, although Anthony Payne’s completion of the Third Symphony has given us a new perspective on Elgar’s creative powers during this period. Again the music-making is committed and sensitive, completing a disc that is a worthy addition to the Elgar catalogue.

Terry Barfoot

Michel Cookson has a different view

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