Search - Elgar, Pople :: Introduction & Allegro / Serenade for Strings

A portrait of Elgar's gentle side

Larry VanDeSande | Mason, Michigan United States | 07/05/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This concert of Elgar's more and least famous works for string orchestra is what I would call this Ross Pople's inventory of Elgar elegies. If that's what you're looking for, this CD should serve you well because the playing is good and the sound is smashing. Unlike extrovert Elgar conductors, like Barbirolli, and those that affect his dignity, like Boult, Pople seems content to project the quieter and less outgoing side of Elgar's personality.



A low priced import in its day (this is still available new in England) the CD provides a view of Elgar's most intimate instrumental music, lovingly played by Pople and members of the London Festival Orchestra. The contents -- Introduction And Allegro Op.47, Serenade For Strings Op.20, Chanson De Matin, Op15, No.2, Chanson De Nuit, Op15, No.1, Mot D'Amour, Op.13 No. 1, Salut D'Amour, Op.12, Minuet Op.21, Elegy Op.58, and the suite from Elgar's opera 'The Spanish Lady' -- are probably not well-known to anyone except Elgar completists.



The Intro & Allegro and Serenade for Strings are two of Elgar's masterpieces. Pople plays the first with less than full throttle and the serenade comes off very sweet and sentimental in a performance I like a lot. The others are less well-known and reward your attention. They range from instrumental excerpts to the opera "The Spanish Lady" to a group of chanson for stringed instruments and Mot de amor Op. 13 No. 1, which is played here by violin and piano (there is no identification of the players).



Elgar completists will want this survey for the lesser known stuff and those that don't know Elgar get a good start on him through the two masterpieces here. The others may give a newcomer the impression that Elgar was, like Delius, a talented composer of delicate miniatures. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course. If you bought this and liked it, try one of the Elgar symphonies next, probably No. 1 or 2, or his famous cello concerto to get a more complete idea of the composer's nature."