Elgar: Nursery Suite

“Not even Sir John Barbirolli or the much underrated William Boughton quite captures the same sense of strings merely breathing on their instruments in the way Goodwin memorably achieves here. …while the strings of the ECO capture to glowing perfection the barely restrained emotions of the sublime Elegy. An outstanding programme.” International Record Review, March 2001

“It was Mike Dutton, when he was at EMI, who supervised the transfer of all of Elgar's electrical recordings. That set has been available only intermittently, which makes Dutton's revised transfers of these three works specially valuable, particularly the 1928 recording of the Cello Concerto with Beatrice Harrison. It now has a satisfying weight and body, though Harrison's wiry tone is not to everyone's taste and the intonation is occasionally suspect.
The Falstaff, made at the opening of EMI's Abbey Road Studios in 1931, has always been impressive in transfers, and the recording of the Nursery Suite made in the same year with the dedicatees, the Duke and Duchess of York and Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret present, comes out brightly and clearly. The Royals were particularly delighted with 'The Wagon Passes', with the whistling of the carter charmingly portrayed.
The septuagenarian Elgar put love into his performance, as he did also in Falstaff with its swaggering Prince Hal theme and tragic epilogue which so echoes the epilogue of Strauss's Don Quixote.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“…Dutton's revised transfers of these three works specially valuable, particularly the 1928 recording of the Cello Concerto with Beatrice Harrison. It now has a satisfying weight and body… The Falstaff, made at the opening of EMI's Abbey Road Studios in 1931, has always been impressive in transfers, and the recording of the Nursery Suite made in the same year... comes out brightly and clearly.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2007

"The freshness of inspiration is a delight, superbly brought out in these fine performances from New Zealand, with James Judd always an idiomatic Elgarian” The Guardian

'The playing in Ulster is attractively spirited; the music-making engagingly combines refinement and warmth. The Nursery Suite is strikingly well characterised, and with first-class digital sound this is highly recommendable.' (Penguin Guide)

“A highly enjoyable disc of gentle, intimate music which is highly recommended.” Elgar Society Journal

“This is really a very worthwhile survey of the lighter Elgar, and the performances are up there with the best. The recording is naturally resonant but has plenty of presence, and David Threasher’s booklet notes are a model of their kind.” MusicWeb International, August 2012