Posted by Richard on February 28, 2000 at 19:52:01:
In Reply to: Re: Elgar Symphony No. 1 posted by Steve Lamb on February 27, 2000 at 20:52:39:
I'll tell you why. Lazy conductors and compalcent concert managers for whom Elgar remains the composer of Enigma Variations, the Cello Concerto, and P&C March 1. My conductor is not lazy and is up for anything, but his best ideas are shot down by control freaks who prove the old saw, "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing." Recently I pitched the Elgar symphonies as unfamiliar repertoire in a familiar and accessable idiom. Too long they said, but they programmed Cockaigne Overture. I was grateful for THAT. And I'll keep pitching. Poster Phil, you lucky bastard! You better enjoy it! And Morris is right , the Zinman/Baltimore is ideal, it can hold it's own with any of the venerable British recordings, and Fedderly's approach is exactly what the part needs.