Search - Edward Elgar :: Elgar: Enigma Variations

Not my cup o' tea

Starry Vere | Silver Lake OH USA | 08/09/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"You may have read reviews or comments about this somewhat controversial CD, that the performance of the Enigma Variations is eccentric, willful, wrong-headed or ill-conceived. Having purchased it out of curiosity I'm inclined to agree. It's a slowish reading that doesn't seem to cohere, centered by a marathon "Nimrod" that just...does...not...work. I often love Lenny when he's "bad," but this is really bad. Boult and Barbirolli achieved 10 times as much in half the time."

A love-it-or-hate-it "Enigma" from Bernstein

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 02/24/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"No doubt Bernstein knew that he was throwing a Molotov cocktail into the laps of the British musical establishment with this notoriously slow Enigma Var. There's no harm in that, certainly, and much of the time he does find special pathos and tenderness by giving the music such a measured pace. This is a melancholy, backward-glancing look at a bygone imperial ethos. LB has the right to take that position; by comparison, more than one beloved English conductor sounds flimsy by comparison.



The "Nimrod" Variation is the emotional heart of the piece, and Bernstein's six and a half minute processional exasperated many critics. I am of mixed minds about it myself, but there are many ohter things to admire here, expressive touches that no one else achieves. Also, one shouldn't overlook the unbottoned jollity of the Pomp and Circustance marches in his hands."