Fri, 01 Apr 2005
Elgar, The Enigma Variations
DVD, BBC Opus Arte
Sir Edward Elgar Bt. (1857 - 1934) was the son of a piano tuner,
and as a commoner, married a Baroness who's allowance was cut off
for marrying such a nonentity. Pleasingly, the marriage agreed with
him to such an extent that he produced all his greatest work during
it and subsequently became one of England's most loved (Land of
Hope and Glory) and honoured composers.
The Enigma Variations was the start of his reputation and all
the honours that flowed his way. They consist of a series of short
pieces that were each inspired by a friend. On this DVD we get a
tour of the characters by the conductor, Sir Andrew Davis, along
with comments on the music itself. We also get the performance as
a whole, filmed at Worcester Cathedral, close by where Elgar lived
in the Malvern hills.
It's a really nice and fairly effortless way to get to know a
little about Elgar. The music is well performed. It's beautifully
shot at the cathedral and the hills and country and the recording
is first class.
(Count K)
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Binchois, Dufay
Dufay (att), Mass for St. Anthony Abbot
Binchois, Motets and Mass movements
The Binchois Consort
Andrew Kirkman
LP, Hyperion
We are in the 15th century, and before the Reformation. Guillaume
Dufay lived approximately between 1397 and 1474 and Gilles Binchois
between 1400 and 1460.
This recording, which was partially sponsored by the Mason Gross
School of the Arts at Rutgers (Andrew Kirkman is a professor there),
gives us a ten movement plenary mass, and from Binchois, the only
surviving isorhythmic motet as well another motet and three mass
movements; a Kyrie, Sanctus, and Agnes Dei.
They are all beautiful works, some of which are bound together
by St. Anthony, and all of them by the proximity of history.
The performance is better than able and the recording first class.
There are also useful note and the words are included in English
and Latin.
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Baroque Trumpet
Italian Baroque Trumpet Music
Stephen Keavy, Crispian Steele-Perkins,
The Farley of Instruments
Peter Holman
LP, Helios
This is a survey CD with works by Albrici, Bononcini, Cazzati,
Corelli, Fantini, Franceschini, Mancini, Mayyeis, Pallavacino,
Stradella and Viviani.
Early trumpets were a length of tubing bent to form a loop
and pitched in C or D and the blowers were not considered to
be musicians but rather soldiers with a job to blow fanfares and
military noises.
In the 1660's however, in Germany and Bologna, Venice and Rome,
efforts were made to incorporate trumpets into orchestral settings.
No one is sure who was first with this work but, in any case, here
we have some beautiful results to admire.
These are zesty performances and have the nice added advantage for
jaded palets (mine is not!) that they will be new to most people.
(Count K)
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