MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
CD: MDT
Sound Samples & Downloads

Edward ELGAR (1857-1934)
Violin Concerto in B minor, op.61 (1910) [50:14]
Alternative Cadenza for the Violin Concerto (1910-1916) [6:17]
Interlude from The Crown of India, op.66 (1912) [3:44]
Polonia, op.76 (1915) [14:15]
Tasmin Little (violin)
Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Sir Andrew Davis
rec. 24-26 May 2010, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow. DDD
CHANDOS CHSA5083 [74:52]

Experience Classicsonline


As 2010 sees the centenary of the première of Elgar’s Violin Concerto, it is only right and fitting that we should have a new recording, and one made by one of today’s major artists and beloved personalities. And there is probably nobody better suited, or more attuned, to Elgar’s style than Sir Andrew Davis, who, over the years of his tenure as Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, grew in stature as an Elgar interpreter and is now an Elgarian of some authority. So all bodes well for this new recording.
 
Sir Andrew delivers a fine opening tutti, strong and purposeful, allowing the music to speak, displaying a superb handling of the transition to the second theme, and then carefully prepares for the entrance of the soloist. Ms Little’s entry is resolute but not overplayed, but here I am immediately faced with a problem which worried me throughout the performance. In the passagework, and sections of bravura writing, Ms Little is superb, throwing caution to the wind and really letting go, relishing the challenge to show her fabulous technique, but always in the service of the music. In slower music, however, such as her initial entry and in much of the slow movement she employs a very fast vibrato which I find annoying and which grates on my ear - I should say that it will not bother many people, but, as with singers, I find this approach to the detriment of the music. The line feels to be unclear - a good example of this comes at 4:22 in the slow movement, where a more direct approach would have been welcome. After a while it just sounds fussy, and it annoys me in the same way as someone who giggles every time after making a comment.
 
Having said all that, I must point out that this is purely my feeling concerning interpretation and performance and not everyone, especially Ms Little’s many fans, will agree with me. I am sure that what I see as the overuse of vibrato won’t bother the majority of people who buy this disk. But I mention it for it is very important and in a work of this length there’s a lot of it!
 
I do feel that Chandos should have reconsidered calling what follows an Alternative Cadenza for the Violin Concerto for it is nothing of the sort. Elgar was one of the first composers to realise the importance of recording his own music and was a willing visitor to the recording studios from 1913 onwards. In 1916 he undertook a recording of the Violin Concerto with Marie Hall, whom he had taught in the 1890s, and, because of the playing time of the discs, and the length of the Concerto, he cut it down to 12 minutes, with each movement occupying one side of a 78rpm disc and the cadenza allotted a side all to itself. Realising that the “thrummed” accompaniment he had created would be almost inaudible on the primitive record he rewrote it adding a harp. Thus, this version was born of necessity and was never intended as an alternative to the cadenza in the Concerto, nor was it intended to be used more than on this single occasion. This truth is proven by the fact that the materials used in 1916 no longer exist, and it has had to be reconstructed by listening to the recording and writing it down afresh. Does it add anything to our knowledge of the work? No. Should it be on this disk? It’s unnecessary, but it makes an interesting sidelight on Elgar’s ingenuity and professionalism.
 
The Interlude from The Crown of India music is an unpretentious miniature for violin and small orchestra, and it’s very pleasant. Polonia is a meatier piece. Based on Polish themes, it was written for a concert for the Polish Victims Relief Fund, and it’s an occasional piece but not a particularly significant work. Its virtues lie in the fact that it is entertaining, fun and shows Elgar’s sure hand as an orchestrator. This is a very high powered account of the music and it is very exciting. A rather subtler account was issued with the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra under Andrzej Panufnik from a live performance of September 1978, coupled with a splendid live 1986 performance of the Violin Concerto by Ida Haendel and John Pritchard, on a long deleted BBC Carlton Classics disk, which is well worth seeking out (15656 91942).
 
Throughout, Sir Andrew draws fine playing from the Scottish Orchestra and their contribution is most satisfying. The recording is stunning in its clarity and brightness, and the notes are full and informative. Despite my personal reservations concerning Ms Little’s use of vibrato, there is no doubt in my mind that this recording will give pleasure to many, but it doesn’t add anything to our understanding of the work.
 
Bob Briggs  

Herein is enshrined the soul of ..... A centenary appreciation of Elgar's Violin Concerto by Patrick Waller

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.