Search - Edward Elgar, Leonard Bernstein, Alfred Wallenstein :: Panorama: Edward Elgar

Get this for Bernstein's remarkable "Enigma Variations."

Bob Zeidler | Charlton, MA United States | 12/29/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Without question, others will find much to admire in this DGG medium-price "twofer" containing some very important music of Sir Edward Elgar. The Pierre Fournier/Alfred Wallenstein performance of Elgar's Cello Concerto, as one example, is likely quite fine, as is Giuseppi Sinopoli's performance of the Elgar 2nd Symphony, with the Philharmonia Orchestra. (My personal preferences for these two works are the DuPré/Barbirolli recording of the Cello Concerto [a truly memorable performance, properly identified by EMI as one of its "Great Recordings of the Century] and the Bryden Thomson recording of the 2nd Symphony [on the Chandos label], but these preferences clearly fall into the "your mileage may vary" category.)



Put simply, there is one overriding reason for my reviewing and recommending this "twofer": Leonard Bernstein's performance of Elgar's "signature" piece, the Enigma Variations. This performance, as well as the two "Pomp and Circumstance" marches coupled here, and a performance of Elgar's "The Crown of India" March, all performed by Bernstein/BBC Symphony, had originally been released by DGG on a single CD, and then later withdrawn. So it is good news indeed that the major work of that earlier release has been included on this "twofer."



Throughout his career, but perhaps most notably in his post-New York Philharmonic years, Bernstein was capable of what can only be described as prodigious feats in the matter of orchestral control of tempi in certain works. The second series of Mahler symphonies which he recorded with the New York, Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras on DGG ("Bernstein II," if you will, to distinguish this series from his earlier Columbia Masterworks series when he was the Music Director of the New York Philharmonic), and an absolutely revelatory recorded performance of Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde," on Philips, are two such examples (among many).



Add to this his BBC Philharmonic recording of the Enigma Variations included here. The specific variation which is at the same time the most revelatory and the most controversial in Bernstein's hands is also the most famous of them: the "Nimrod" variation. Where other performances of this variation are typically timed at something on the order of four minutes, Bernstein's performance comes in at 6'08". Someone familiar with this work, and the timings of the various variations, but unfamiliar with Bernstein's performance, would surely say, upon reading this 6'08" timing, that something is terribly awry; that Bernstein has literally and figuratively "destroyed" this variation by stretching it out of shape, beyond the breaking point.



Ah, but such is the magic that Bernstein weaves with this variation that it all works, and works so well, that one comes away saying, "Of course! Of course!" He succeeds totally in suspending time for the duration of the variation, under tempo circumstances for which the movement would simply fall apart - and fail utterly - under lesser hands. "Magic" is the best - and the only - word that comes to mind in my efforts to describe the effect that Bernstein achieves.



To me, this is more than sufficient reason to recommend this recording, and very highly at that. But I recognize that this performance, idiosyncratic as it is, might not be to all tastes. So I also recommend the classic Pierre Monteux/London Symphony Orchestra version, initially released four decades ago on an RCA Victrola LP in the U.S. but now available in a Decca mid-priced "The Classic Sound" release, coupled with a "beefy" performance of Gustav Holst's "The Planets" performed by Herbert von Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.



Get both the Bernstein and the Monteux for the Elgar. They are both classics, but of course for entirely different approaches: Monteux as the "classicist" and Bernstein as the "conjurer of what might be possible."



Bob Zeidler"

Towering perfomance of Enigma Variations!

Hiram Gomez Pardo | Valencia, Venezuela | 07/11/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I' acquired another edition of this version . I've always loved this work of Edward Elgar . In many ways this might be the second nathional hymn of England . This work is sublime ; has such ciclopean dignity , sublime greatness , powerful eloquence , arresting melodies and overwhelming sense of majesty .
Bernstein conducted this piece as he was a english citizen .
It's very hard for any serious lover music to be indifferent after listening this version .
There are been great versions just before this one . Toscanini's NBC was very emotive ; Boult 's reading is interesting ; Stokowski's version is OK , but Bernstein makes literally a cosmic journey . There's a variation in which Elgar pays a beautiful tribute to Holst (The planets) .
You may forget the rest of this CD if you want , and you won't miss it . In the CD item I own , there are Pomp and circunstance , extraordinary played too.
To me, this recording may be part of the ten best performings all along the career of Leonard Bernstein !"