Enigma+variations

The music of Edward Elgar (1857-1934) is as unmissable in the British landscape as the red of the double-decker buses and telephone booths that appear on the cover of our new Indispensable. Of the five steps of "Pomp & Circumstance" (the title is borrowed from a passage from Shakespeare's "Othello"), the first (1901) remains the most famous. In the lively radiance of his introduction as in his trio imbued with pride, gravity and dignity all at the same time, Adrian Boult wears, in 1955, an elegant authority, an absolutely irresistible smirk - and what relief!

From Arturo Toscanini and Sir John Barbirolli to Riccardo Muti and Antonio Pappano in our own time, Italian-heritage performers have often brought special qualities of sympathy and understanding to Edward Elgar’s (1857-1934) music. Now comes a new recording made in the ‘boot’ of southern Italy, lending Mediterranean warmth and passion to a trio of Elgarian masterpieces.

Gustav Holst: The Planets Op. 32 - Wiener Philharmoniker; Wiener Staatsopernchor; Herbert von Karajan
Edward Elgar: Variations on an Original Theme, Op.36 "Enigma" - London Symphony Orchestra; Pierre Monteux
Classical | 1 CD | EAC v0.99pb4 Rip | 405 Mb | FLAC+LOG+M3U+Cue | Full Scans | RS links
Publisher: Decca

First ever Wiener Philharmoniker recording of “The Planets”, a favorite of Imogen Holst, plus a benchmark recording of Elgar’s Enigma Variations.

André Previn elicits beautiful playing from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in his account of the Enigma Variations, and projects a darker, more subdued view of the score than does Sir Adrian Boult.