COMPOSERS: Elgar
LABELS: CFP
WORKS: Violin Concerto; Violin Sonata
PERFORMER: Hugh Bean (violin) David Parkhouse (piano); Royal Liverpool PO/Charles Groves
CATALOGUE NO: CD CFP 4632 ADD (1971/73)
Rather a dated recording. The Sonata rasps, with over-heavy piano, and despite the odd glimmer of calm, misses the tender heart of the piece. (Nigel Kennedy on Chandos is surely a safer bet.) The Concerto sounds tinny and at times unpleasant. Though Groves’s Elgar is often worth preserving, here the continuity of both soloist and orchestra is unremarkable. Better to pay extra for the young Menuhin with Elgar himself conducting, on EMI. Roderic Dunnett
Elgar: Violin Concerto; Violin Sonata
Rather a dated recording. The Sonata rasps, with over-heavy piano, and despite the odd glimmer of calm, misses the tender heart of the piece. (Nigel Kennedy on Chandos is surely a safer bet.) The Concerto sounds tinny and at times unpleasant. Though Groves’s Elgar is often worth preserving, here the continuity of both soloist and orchestra is unremarkable. Better to pay extra for the young Menuhin with Elgar himself conducting, on EMI. Roderic Dunnett
Our rating
3
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:36 pm