Search - Elgar, Aura Ensemble :: Piano Quintet Op 84 / String Quartet Op 83

Elgar-Chamber Music

ts9641 | USA | 07/28/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With the Violin Sonata, the first "masterpiece" to come from Elgar's pen after the first World War, one finds a unique expansiveness in Edward Elgar's music that was completely uncharacteristic of his earlier lush Edwardian style( analogous to a big comfy couch). This new style was simplified in technique but far more complex in its meaning. In his later works, we hear not the grand apotheosis that graced the closing pages of the First Symphony or the Violin Concerto. Rather, we hear something liek resignation-a quiet acceptance of what it is and what will always be. Such a conviction in his later style (of resignation) brings to the music nostalgia. And believe this, to perform Elgar, one must have that nostalgic flare-something very distinct yet gleaming. This recording of the Aura Ensemble brings both that feeling of expansiveness and nostalgia that was so common in Elgar's "Late Style." Despite one out-of-tune note in the first violin in the last mov. of the Piano Quintet, the playing is quite alive. It truly paints perfectly Elgar's intended soundscapes. I highly recommend this recording to both Elgar enthusiasts and those who are just discovering his magical realm."