ELGAR: CELLO CONCERTO; SERENADE FOR STRINGS - TORTELIER, GROVES, ROYAL PHILHARMONIC

Elgar: Cello Concerto, Serenade for Strings

Paul Tortelier
(cello)
Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra
Sir Charles Groves

“this has a freshness and vitality that suggest Tortelier has pointedly re-studied the score … Tortelier’s playing is admirably faithful to Elgar’s markings. The work’s emotional impact is projected without maudlin sentiment… all the more moving for being simple and unaffected (and how beautifully Groves and the RPO treat the accompaniment). Like the composer, Tortelier reserves the fullest weight for the finale … a bright, resonant recording, ideally balanced, to my ears…. The same lofty musicianship and quest for beauty of sound are encountered in the Rococo Variations….Dvořák’s charming Rondo in G minor, wuth faint pre-echoes of the concerto that was to follow.”

Elgar: Cello Concerto in E minor, Op.85
1. Adagio – Moderato 7:25
2. Allegro molto 4:28
3. Adagio 4:22
4. Allegro- Moderato-Allegro ma non troppo 11:42

5. Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op.33 19:14

6. Dvořák: Rondo in G minor, Op.94 7:43

Elgar: Serenade for Strings, Op.20

7. Allegro piacevole 3:32
8. Largo 6:33
9. Allegretto 3:05