Elgar's Hillside

[sound67]

Alas, I cannot accurately detail them. I've heard a couple (in part only) on the radio in recent years. They seemed too ...  yes, soft-focused is the only apt way to describe them. I think Sir Andrew Davis - whom I usually love conducting Elgar - may be among the 'guilty' parties.

Well, I can. Sinopoli!

[Mark]

Well, I can. Sinopoli!

Hurrah! I knew you'd come through on this one.

[Bonehelm]

Speaking of Sinopoli, I just finished listening to his Elgar cello concerto with the Philharmonia orchestra. Don't know who the soloist is but it's on DG. The playing and recording are superb, but the excessive breathing and sometimes even sighing of the performer (must be the cellist) somewhat annoys me. Good sound though.

[Mark]

... but the excessive breathing and sometimes even sighing of the performer (must be the cellist) somewhat annoys me. Good sound though.

You sure that 'sighing' is not caused by bow action on strings, rather than by the cellist? Whenever I've heard a cello up close in recital, that 'sighing' is usually evident - I look at the performer's face, and there's no visible sign of them making such a noise.

[Bonehelm]

You sure that 'sighing' is not caused by bow action on strings, rather than by the cellist? Whenever I've heard a cello up close in recital, that 'sighing' is usually evident - I look at the performer's face, and there's no visible sign of them making such a noise.

Maybe the sighing is not really sighing, but the breathing must be. I play in a semi-professional ensemble myself, and I know exactly how instrument players breathe before they play a lyrical phrase. But in this recording the breathing is so prevalent and outstanding that it annoys the listener because it's not a part of the music.

I'm trying to listen to Elgar's depiction of 1918 post-war Britain, not a guy suffocating after running an hour non stop on the treadmill.

[71 dB]

I'm trying to listen to Elgar's depiction of 1918 post-war Britain,

Don't you mean 1919?

[Kullervo]

I actually like breathing. It's humming that bothers me.

[Bonehelm]

Don't you mean 1919?

The war ended in 1918.

[sound67]

Speaking of Sinopoli, I just finished listening to his Elgar cello concerto with the Philharmonia orchestra. Don't know who the soloist is but it's on DG.

It's Mischa Maisky.

[Bonehelm]

It's Mischa Maisky.

Yeah, him, the athlete who totally overexercises at running. 

[71 dB]

The war ended in 1918.

So? Elgar finished his Cello Concerto in 1919 and the first performance was in 26 October 1919.

[karlhenning]

So? Elgar finished his Cello Concerto in 1919 and the first performance was in 26 October 1919.

So? The war ended in 1918, and the end of the war was possibly in Elgar's mind as he composed the work.

[71 dB]

So? The war ended in 1918, and the end of the war was possibly in Elgar's mind as he composed the work.

So? Who cares what Elgar had in mind? I suppose nobody on this forum has experienced the end of WWI. How could we understand the musical pointers?

[BachQ]

So? Who cares what Elgar had in mind?

Spoken like a true Elgar scholar ..........

[karlhenning]

Who cares what Elgar had in mind?

At last we are in complete agreement, Poju 

[Bonehelm]

So? Who cares what Elgar had in mind? I suppose nobody on this forum has experienced the end of WWI. How could we understand the musical pointers?

Is it just me or is Poju in his mad mind, talking B.S. again?

Thanks for slapping your own face, as a true scholar and admirer of the great composer Edward William Elgar, you don't really give a shit about what was in his mind when he wrote his magnum opus. Then comes some other nonsense about how people need to experience some historical event to know it. Were you alive in Elgar's time? I'd be damned if you were. Then how are you so "knowledgeable" about the man and his music?

Two thumbs up. Way to go.

[Kullervo]

Has it become fashionable to use 71's real name almost as an insult?

[71 dB]

Thanks for slapping your own face, as a true scholar and admirer of the great composer Edward William Elgar, you don't really give a shit about what was in his mind when he wrote his magnum opus. Then comes some other nonsense about how people need to experience some historical event to know it. Were you alive in Elgar's time? I'd be damned if you were. Then how are you so "knowledgeable" about the man and his music?

The principles of art are timeless and universal. What Elgar did have in his mind just happened to be triggered by the war. If Elgar lived now he would perhaps use 9/11 for inspiration. I don't know much about Elgar's time but I still enjoy his music.

[BachQ]

At last we are in complete agreement, Poju 

Looks like 71dB pulled another Poju .........

Has it become fashionable to use 71's real name almost as an insult?

We would never do that ........

[71 dB]

I put my words badly: Of course what Elgar had in mind is relevant for what kind of music he wrote but I mean we don't have much means to know what he had in mind except the obvius grief because of the devastation.