Elgar: Symphony No. 1 & Introduction and Allegro

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Complex, multi-faceted, subtly changeable Elgar…Gardner is a master of transitions: the gradual transformation of scherzo to slow movement is only the most striking, but there are plenty of others.... — BBC Music Magazine, July 2017, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 31st Mar 2017
Catalogue No: CHSA5181
Label: Chandos
Length: 65 minutes

BBC Music Magazine

July 2017

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Elgar: Introduction and Allegro for Strings, Op. 47: Introduction. Moderato - Allegro - Allegro

Work length14:12

$2.15

$2.60

$3.20

Edward Gardner, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Doric String Quartet
Recorded: 5-6 September 2016
Recording Venue: Watford Colosseum, Watford, Hertfordshire, UK

Elgar: Symphony No. 1 in A flat major, Op. 55

Work length51:01

Album only

Edward Gardner, BBC Symphony Orchestra
Recorded: 5-6 September 2016
Recording Venue: Watford Colosseum, Watford, Hertfordshire, UK

I. Andante

Track length19:30

Album only

II. Allegro molto

Track length7:16

$1.60

$1.95

$2.40

III. Adagio

Track length12:16

$2.15

$2.60

$3.20

IV. Lento

Track length11:59

$2.15

$2.60

$3.20

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This new Elgar surround-sound recording brings together some of Chandos’ finest exclusive British artists for the first time.

The Doric String Quartet – highly praised for its series of Haydn and Schubert quartets – joins the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Edward Gardner in the Introduction and Allegro, one of Elgar’s masterpieces. Gardner here captures the subtle contrast between the solo quartet and the string ensemble, while also reconciling a wide variety of musical ideas and tempo fluctuations, not least the ever-popular ‘Welsh’ solo viola melody. The full Orchestra then appears in a passionate account of the majestic Symphony No. 1, a much-loved work ever since its premiere in 1906. As well as highly praised Walton and Britten recordings, the enduring relationship between Edward Gardner and the BBC Symphony Orchestra has seen successful series of works by non-British composers such as Szymanowski and Lutosławski. Edward Gardner is also involved in recording projects with many other orchestras, including the Bergen Philharmonic, the CBSO, and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, his latest new collaboration.

Reviews

July 2017

Complex, multi-faceted, subtly changeable Elgar…Gardner is a master of transitions: the gradual transformation of scherzo to slow movement is only the most striking, but there are plenty of others. And what’s most marvellous is the way Gardner, having opened out so many different vistas, draws them all together into a single coherent statement…I’ve rarely heard a performance of this Symphony in which the human triumphs over the monumental so convincingly

28th April 2017

The BBCSO under Edward Gardner keeps a grip on the composer’s lavish detail.

May 2017

[these readings] can and should be applauded for their lucidity and clarity and insightful honesty. There is a major talent at work here – of that there can be no doubt

14th May 2017

The British conductor is a seasoned Elgarian, and he coaxes playing of special splendour here from the brass and strings, which reveal richer sonorities in the saturated textures and brilliant contrapuntal writing.

13th April 2017

Edward Gardner definitely puts refinement before moment-by-moment impact in his first venture into Elgar on disc. His treatment of the Introduction and Allegro…is notable more for its clarity and carefully graded textures than for its bracing athleticism, though it does finally deliver a real punch in the peroration. Gardner adopts a similar slow-burn approach to the First Symphony

July 2017

Here the BBC Symphony Orchestra is joined by the Doric Quartet, and the result is certainly excellent…Edward Gardner shapes the work [Introduction and Allegro] beautifully.

Daily Mail 23rd April 2017

Edward Gardiner has been a dedicated Elgarian since the beginning of his career, and this reading, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, is strikingly mature…traditional in the best sense: brisk, with no exaggerated tempi or dynamics, and especially good at not becoming becalmed in the long first movement, and in the finale

Classical Music July 2017

a finely nuanced recording of the Introduction and Allegro. In the symphony, Gardner’s feeling for pace and for colour really are top drawer, more measured than some performances but never losing sight of the overall shape of the work, never letting tension slip

classicalsource.com May 2017

Edward Gardner leads a lyrical and bracing account [of the Introduction and Allegro], vying nostalgic reverie with intense drive, Is dotted and Ts crossed yet with plenty of bittersweet ardour and impulsive vitality. The First Symphony is just as impressive. Gardner directs a flowing if flexible account that is very listenable and is particularly revealing of detail, dynamics and sonority.

Classical Ear 5th April 2017

Edward Gardner presides over a dashingly articulate, enviably integrated and deeply-felt account of Elgar's mighty A flat major symphony featuring the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the very top of its game

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