Elgar - Cello Concerto [Fournier/Wallenstein-Berliner Philharmoniker]This is a very nice disc, probably the two most popular Cello Concertos coupled together, i wrote about the Dvorak Concerto last month [15th July 2010], a nice re-issue on the DG Galleria label, with some pleasing art on the front cover.
The Elgar Cello Concerto was written just after the First World War, and it was a very different Elgar portrayed here than in his jolly works, an overriding sadness permeates the whole work, it's in the dark key of E Minor, what a lamentation to the fallen it is.
This is the first time this year that i've written about Elgar's Cello Concerto, it is a work i love, and yet not a work that has truly become 'great' to
me, the opening is quite unique/revolutionary, the very dark cello in it's bottom registers [0:00-1:00], with only slight orchestral accompaniment, it's dark and delicious!, later the strings sing a less sad theme [1:38+], the cello joins in, and sings a stronger forte version of the theme [1:57-2:17], which ends in the cello going up in the forte treble, and the orchestra blasting out a forte version of the main theme [2:17-2:36], this whole section returns in a shorter truncated way later [5:56-6:25], right at the very end the cello has some dark pizzicato notes, and some higher ones too [6:57-7:15], this leads into the second movement, where the pizzicato continues, i like the 'new' Elgar here, a very serious Cello Concerto, i'm warming to it more and more.
Here's Pierre Fournier playing the opening movement on YouTube, with Alfred Wallenstein conducting.
