Elgar: Three Characteristic Pieces

“…the principal focus of this disc is the composer's solo piano arrangement of the Enigma Variations, and unlikely as it might seem the music sound surprisingly effective in this form. …Wass characterises all the variations sharply… and brings out all the available keyboard colour on which Elgar must have been relying.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2006 ****

“…"Nimrod" is beautifully paced, as is the final "EDU" variation depicting the composer himself… Most obviously pianistic are the fast, brilliant variations, which come across splendidly… the salon pieces… make a charming sequence, particularly as Wass in his flexible use of rubato always sounds idiomatic and persuasive.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards 2006

“…James Judd… gives Elgar's early overture an enhanced sense of seriousness and nobility that gives an individual slant to what is undoubtedly a highly competitive performance. The ensuing programme of miniatures makes for attractive listening, expounded with affection and a fine sense of Elgarian style. Above all Judd seems to understand the mercurial fluidity of rhythm and tempo that gives Elgar's music its distinctive life.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2006 ****

“With Colin Davis, Mark Elder, Andrew Davis and others promoting it, Elgar’s music is in good hands. Yet perhaps nobody has known so well as the composer himself how it should go — how passionately, how freely — as this collection of the complete electrical recordings he made between 1926 and 1933 magnificently shows...Elgarians owe EMI so much.” Sunday Times, 26th June 2011 ****

“It’s surprising how few allowances need to be made for the scratchy mono sound. Elgar was a skilled conductor of his own work, and what’s refreshing is how swift and urgent an interpreter he was...The two symphonies have rarely sounded less parochial and more like fin de siècle European classics...This set is a revelatory bargain - once you start dipping in you can't stop.” Graham Rickson, The Arts Desk, 16th July 2011