Search - R. Strauss, Elgar, Steinberg :: Don Juan / Enigma Variations

Terrific playing & recording from a neglected master

Dr. Paul R. Terry | Bedworth, Warwickshire United Kingdom | 12/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great pairing of two late-Romantic composers. Strauss & Elgar were good friends, and admired each others' work, so this is an appropriate coupling. Steinberg has a very 'heart-on-sleeve' approach that works surprisingly well in Elgar (we Brits think that 'outsiders' can't master the English idiom, but that's totally untrue!); we feel the affection that Elgar had for his friends.



Steinberg's Rosenkavalier Suite is very well-balanced (there's no 'official' suite, though Strauss sanctioned several versions in his life-time, and Leinsdorf did one for Decca Phase 4 in the 60's, though I've never come across that on CD). Don Juan has bags of swagger and pathos at the end.



Steinberg was less well-known in the UK than he should have been, and I have always admired his music-making. Any fellow-Steinbergians out there?"