Elgar: Cello Concerto, Sea Pictures

This is the same re-mastered performance from the  Great Recordings of the Century  edition on EMI, here carried on by Warner Classics who seems to be re-releasing many of Du Pre’s LP’s back into the public. The re-mastered sound is good: full and detailed, and the orchestral sound (London SO for the Cello Concerto and Sea Pictures, Philharmonia for Cockaigne) seems to favor the brass (punchy in the foreground) during the big moments. The soloists are heard well over the orchestra, the Du Pre Davidov cello seems natural from an audience perspective, while Dame Janet Baker gets the benefit of a studio setting (Elgar orchestrates smartly by lightly scoring during the singing portions), where there is plenty of natural warmth to the recorded sound with an ever-so slight reverb as if in a hall.Elgar’s music is not all flash and explosions, and the works on this disc certainly explore this aspect; Elgar seems ready to explore the innermost soul of mankind, especially in the cello concerto, a dreary, emotional affair that starts and stops with cadenza-like musings rather than a vehicle to show off the soloist’s bravado (although there is some of that here). The Elgar Concerto is Jacqueline Du Pre’s calling card and brought the work back into the fray of the classical music world, and here she continues to display her unique abilities to emote in a visceral manner: a large Romantic sound that savors each musical moment.The Sea Pictures texts come from various sources (including Elgar’s wife) and show Elgar’s abilities with voice and melody. Baker handles the wide ranges with aplomb, enunciates the flowery texts crisply without being fussy (see Alice  Coote's  performance with Halle), and her golden-burnished singing quality is well-adhered to the stormy subject matter. In addition, Barbirolli leads the Philharmonia Orchestra in the Cockaigne Overture, which again, is not all dash and brio (see Sir Georg Solti’s  Elgar ) compilation, but gets to the heart of the matter: an ode to London replete with blustery brass. Barbirolli is an obvious proponent of all of this music and each of the performers set a high bar to surpass on record. Now with re-mastering, this recording is the place to start with this music (and possibly no further). Highly recommended, along with quality liner notes (all about Sir John Barbirolli, but unfortunately do not include the words of Sea Pictures), good price, and great sound.

Classical listeners who are just getting into Elgar will find that there are many recordings to choose from, but, in my estimate, this Barbirolli disc remains one of the best possible introductions a new listener to Elgar's music can find. One of the selling points for this recording is that both "Sea Pictures" and the "Cello Concerto" display two completely sides to the composer, which will help the listener grasp Elgar's unique sound-world with greater ease than simply trying to plow their way through the two symphonies, which, to someone new to Elgar, can be quite daunting.The "Cello Concerto" is a highly emotional work, but at it's core it's lyrical and filled with much beauty that it shouldn't be a problem for the listener to understand. The cello playing of Jacqueline du Pre, as noted by every review I've read of this recording, is exemplary. In fact, I read a story where world-renown cellist Mstislav Rostropovich said after he heard du Pre's performance, he immediately took it out of his repertoire. This is du Pre's second performance of the Elgar and, in my opinion, the finer of the two. I never liked Barenboim's conducting that much and feel he's out-of-place in Elgar's music. Barbirolli, on the other hand, is in-tune with Elgar and the emotional range this work needs to be successful in a performance. Barbirolli is no stranger to Elgar, in fact, he has recorded almost all of the orchestral works for EMI ( British Composers: Sir John Barbirolli Conducts Elgar ). Anyway, this is the best "Cello Concerto" performance I've heard and while other performances that have come to fore lately (i. e. Heinrich Schiff/Elder, Watkins/A. Davis) demonstrate admirable virtuosity, they still don't erase my mind of du Pre's performance.The other main work here is "Sea Pictures" the only song-cycle Elgar wrote and it has this hazy, Impressionistic feel throughout. Critics and listeners continue to talk about Janet Baker's performance and it's hard to disagree with their continued praise. This is the best performance of "Sea Pictures" on record. There have been many other good ones (Greevy/Handley, Connolly/Wright, Palmer/Hickox), but no other vocalist has touched Baker yet. It also helps when you have sympathetic accompaniment from Barbirolli and the London Symphony Orchestra. I never heard "Where Corals Lie" have so much weight. The depth of feeling throughout the work is gorgeous and will leave you wanting more.There are many ways to obtain this recording. It's been reissued many, many times, but probably one of the best ways to acquire it is through Barbirolli's box set which I linked above. He was master in this music and in many respects all of his performances remain unchallenged.Highly recommended.

I wanted this particular recording with Jacqueline Du Pre but I was reluctant to order from Amazon. All other CDs arrived with copped or broken cases because of the soft packaging. This one came in the same padded envelope but arrived undamaged.

A famous recording of the cello concerto and still holds up sonically and is very worth listening to. The Cockaigne Overture is fun and well played. I found the Sea Pictures to be be beautifully sung (of course), but only one of the five texts had any interest or emotional pull to it. They did not come close to other songs with orchestra, such as by Strauss or Berlioz.

I am not a classical music nut, but I do like some. This cello concerto is a wonderful piece, both Du Pre and the Orchestra are captured at their peak in this recording. I am astounded by the dynamic range that seems to leap out of the speakers on passages. I don't know how they did it but it approaches the dynamic range of a CD. I also notice that there is almost no record noise. Very clean recording.

An amazing piece of history which stands to test of time. It is as I remember it when I first heard it in my youth as part of Ken Russell's film about Elgar. That was in black and white which shows how old I am. Sea Pictures is a revelation - amazing work.

It surprised me how often I'd hear snippets of the cello concerto without realising it. This is probably the best version of it. It's not the most modern recording but it plays well. The additional material adds to the disc and makes for a very pleasant listening experience.

From the very first bars of the cello concerto, one can see why this is one of the world's favorite cello pieces.

These recordings have long been regarded as the finest performances of these works. For many years, although one could not disagree with the sentiment behind that statement, the sound on the CD was very disappointing and therefore rather spoil the music. It was unbelievable that EMI allowed such a sub standard transfer of one the greatest classical music recordings of all time to be released. Though to add to that to that, I seem to remember from a long time ago the sound on the original LP was not exactly great so I made the assumption that perhaps the original recording was rather less than perfect.I am wrong, and in short a modern day miracle has happened. In this latest transfer the sound is absolutely glorious and these reference performances and can shine again in all their glory. The recording is now warm, spacious and opulent with a full dynamic range and hard with the quality of the recording to believe that it dates from August 1965. On listening to this new transfer for the first time, in the sea pictures at the first entry of Dame Janet and then throughout, she now sounds as though she was actually in the room with you! It was breathtaking!!! The LP and the 1st release on CD were millions of light years away from the sound we now have.I need to add little to what everybody else has said about the performances - put quite simply they are the best.On this new edition Warner have also included a magical account from Barbirolli of Elgar's Cockaigne overture recorded in 1962 with the Philharmonia at the peak of their form. Again, the sound is first class.My original CD is now going to the charity shop and in future I can just sit back and listen to these enthralling performance in the finest of sound.

This very famous pair of performances of the concerto and Sea Pictures, made in 1965, has long been a point of reference by those interested in the music. It has been in my collection in one form or another since then and has always delivered great musical satisfaction. The recording, however, has been problematical at times as follows: The highest peaks of recorded sound were over-modulated on the LP discs and, even with the highest quality Shure cartridges, clean tracking of the most powerful moments of Janet Baker's singing or trumpet climaxes could not be achieved.The CDs which followed showed improvement in this respect but the same points were clearly uncomfortable in playback even with the best playback machines available at that time. The suspicion grew that the real problem was with the actual recording and not its reproduction. However, I have given it yet one more try and this time the mastering is a triumph. No peak overloading, just, and far greater presence, improved depth of field - in fact an astounding improvement in every respect.As an extra bonus, the disc even includes an equally improved Cockaigne Overture recorded in 1962 with the Philharmonia and one brimming over with Barbirolli's Londoner enthusiasm - he was always proud to be a Cockney.The performances of the two main works are so well known and revered as to make further comment by me to be merely superficial. Those who already know these performances will simply want to know if the latest mastering is worth investing in - and it is. Those who don't know the performances should consider rectifying the omission as soon as possible and with this latest remastering.I would suggest that this is a disc which is an almost obligatory purchase for its many fans and which should be on everyone else's potential purchase list. It fully lives up to its established reputation.

The Elgar Cello Concerto on Side A is superb and an amazing performance by Jacqueline Du Pre. The quality of the vinyl press is excellent. Sea Pictures on Side B is simply not to my taste. I would have returned but for the quality of the cello concerto and the fact there are very few vinyl recordings available with the full concerto.Ideally there would be an LP with the Cello Concerto and Enigma Variations on a 1 or 2 disk set

Bought this specifically for the Elgar Cello concerto regarded as the definitive version performed by Jaqueline du Pré. It met ALL my expectations. Wonderful.

I endorse the high praise for this CD. Cockaigne and Sea Pictures are great performances, and the sound is brilliantly remastered. The cello concerto is less to my taste (I much prefer the classical simplicity of Beatrice Harrison conducted by the composer) but many will love it. A word also for the masterly notes by Michael Kennedy, conveying a wealth of valuable information, sound judgments and interesting background in a couple of pages.