Elgar Cello Concerto and Sea Pictures CD Review

LSO, Barbirolli, Du Pre, Baker, 1965.

This is the Elgar you want.
And this is the recording you must have.
No other substitutes will do!
Jacqueline Du Pre was like no other cellist.
This recording proves it.
And what about Elgar - Mr Pomp and Circumstance/Land of Hope and Glory?
It's almost like he was thinking about Du Pre's advent when he wrote this music.
This gives the lie to the stereotype of the cold-blooded English pastoral musings.
The cello concerto is all about passion - hope, loss, desperation, aspiration...
Du Pre flies/soars/glides through it and challenges us to fly with her.

The sea pictures provide a calming contrast to the concerto, performed impeccably by Dame Janet Baker, though altogether a more controlled affair.

10/10.