Gustav Styger <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >Elgar's love of riddles also came through quite strongly in the last >movement, it seemed to me almost like a musical labyrinth at one stage, >with seemingly dead-ends and glimpses of the main themes. All-in-all a >wonderful work and I am at the moment searching for a recording. Any >recommendations My favorite is the unheralded recording with soloist Igor Oistrakh and the Moscow Symphony. The Russian bite is really quite striking in the outer movements. The Perlman is a good modern recording, but the Menuhin with Elgar conducting remains the best performance, sonics notwithstanding. I just learned from Leo Botstein's new compendium ("Edward Elgar and His World") that it was Kreisler, the man who premiered the concerto, that got Elgar to put in the heart-stopping high notes in the 20th bar of the slow movement. This great contribution ranks with that of Jaeger, who persuaded the composer to extend the conclusion of the Enigma variations to seal it as an all-time masterwork. >What would rank as your most memorable concert experiences for 2007? Premiere of the Rouse Requiem in L.A., and Puccini's "La Rondine" at the San Francisco Opera, bewitchingly sung by Angela Gheorghiu. BTW, the latter may show up at a theater near you. Jeff Dunn [log in to unmask] Alameda, CA *********************************************** The CLASSICAL mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's HDMail High Deliverability Mailer for reliable, lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html