Search - Elgar, Connolly, Bournemouth So :: Edward Elgar: Sea Pictures

Connolly is superb; near-miss "Music Makers" still enjoyable

Orgelbear | 04/02/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I wish I could give this CD 4.5 stars, because "Sea Pictures" is excellent. It's impossible to completely avoid consulting the standard set by Janet Baker with Barbirolli in their classic recording, but Sarah Connolly's rich mezzo and intelligent handling of the song texts are strong enough to withstand and move beyond the comparison. The authority Simon Wright brings to the orchestral accompaniment in the song cycle unfortunately doesn't come through as clearly in the big choral work "The Music Makers", where the drama and energy of the most intense passages never quite manage to reach beyond the strophic limitations of the text to coalesce into a larger whole. The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Chorus turn in good work, but Adrian Boult's transcendent performance remains unbested.



Barbirolli and Boult's old 1960s-vintage Angel recordings are both sonically showing their age. I have not yet heard the digital recordings (indeed, pairings) of these works conducted by Mark Elder, Bryden Thomson, or Andrew Davis, but the budget price, fine sound, ready availability, and Connolly's wonderful singing make this Naxos disc easy to recommend, even to listeners who may want to continue searching for a more persuasive "Music Makers" in modern sound.

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