The first piece of proper criticism I ever wrote was an essay dissenting from the obligatory English adulation of Edward Elgar. I was, and on the whole remain, an Elgar sceptic. So what am I doing publishing a five-star review on Sinfini of an Elgar masterpiece? (They were pretty surprised, too…)
Read it here.
photo (c) Lebrecht Music&Arts
Dear Norman, I’m sure you’re not going soft ~ Sometimes something about a piece just reaches out – Bach’s wonderful Double Violin Concerto is, for me, only by Manze & Podgers: it dances! My Elgar is the Symphony No. 1 – I happen to think the best recording/performance was LSO with Colin Davis (I was there..& it moved me, astonished, to tears..). You have piqued my interest on this one, though: it’s not normally a piece that speaks much to me at all…
Norman, well done and welcome aboard!