Search - Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Rafael Fruhbeck De Burgos :: Elgar: Cello Concerto / Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis / Fantasia on Greensleeves

A gorgeously played, deeply felt Elgar Cello Concerto

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 07/05/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Felix Schmidt is a London-based cellist who happens to play a Stradivarius instrument here, and that alone would make this CD worth seeking out, because the recording is so splendid that we get to savor the instrument at its sweetest and subtlest. Schmidt is not spotlit, however; we hear him from the fourth row or so. His interpretation of the Elgar concerto is by turns sensitive, lyrical, and emotionally free (in the style of Du Pre). Fruhbeck de Burgos supplies an accompaniment that's so fresh and alert it puts all but a handful of others to shame. This is a dark horse contender for best recording of the work after the classic du Pre with Barbiroli.





These are bargain reissues from the Pickwick group of previous LSO recordings, I believe, a series well worth seeking out. The orchestra continues to be wonderful in the Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, which de Burgos paces right along but with songful, natural phrasing that is enchanating. I've been seeking out all the LSO recordings with him--he's entered a phase of mature mastery that is deeply satisfying. Everything he touches, even VW's little Greensleeves Fantasy, sounds wise and ripe with a lifetime's experience. This CD is very special despite its conventional program and rather brief (48 min.) timing."