As part of their contribution to the Elgar 150th birthday celebrations, the London Symphony Orchestra has released this superlative new recording of the Enigma Variations and the Introduction and Allegro.
Under their President, Sir Colin Davis, the orchestra achieves an unexpected freshness, especially in a sparkling account of the composer's career-defining Enigma Variations.
Written in 1898 and premiered the following year, the work moves at the speed of light through the theme and its thirteen variations, arriving at the finale with a broader picture of the man himself (the finale is called 'EDU', which was his wife Alice's nickname for him). We see different sides of Elgar - not only his familiar pastoral English mood, but a lush symphonic side and a quiet intimacy as well. The success of the first performances put the composer firmly on the map, and the poignant nobility of 'Nimrod' (Variation 10) has made it a popular choice for solemn occasions.
Each of the variations represents a person (or an animal, in the case of the witty and perky variation depicting his dog) in Elgar's life. His wife is given tender music in Variation I; his chamber-music partner Hew David Steuart-Powell is illustrated with rapidly-moving strings and woodwind, reflecting his pianistic abilities; his friend Dora Penny is brought to life with gentleness; and several variations depict musician friends who played the instruments to which Elgar gives the theme in those movements (for instance, Variation VI has a starring role for a viola player in tribute to 'Ysobel', the viola player of the title).
Davis' reading of this marvellous work excels both in the broad sweep and in the intimate details. The stormy fourth variation - 'WMB', referring to the rumbustious Squire Baker of Hasfield Court who slams the door at the end of the movement - is played with extraordinary power by timpani and strings; the violins scintillate in their rapid scale movements of Variation VII; and 'Nimrod' has surely never been played with a fresher, less hackneyed approach: each phrase of the variation emerges with fluidity, capped by the bold masculinity of the final line.
Once again, LSO Live has taken on one of the most recorded works in the repertoire and provided the definitive account.
No less impressive is the performance of the Introduction and Allegro for strings. Although not a string player to my knowledge, Davis pays great attention to the phrasing, texture and tone quality of the instruments, gaining searing performances from the ensemble. The instrumentalists of the solo quartet play together with great intuition and the contrapuntal effects are carefully tailored. Bizarrely, the solo violinist was different in each of the two concerts at which the recording was taken, so I don't know whether to commend Gordan Nikolitch or Carmine Lauri. Perhaps it's safer to say that the performance could not be bettered and have done.
Another tremendous release from the original in-house record label.