Elgar: String Quartet, Op. 83; Piano Quintet, Op. 84

On this CD:

1. String Quartet in E minor, Op. 83
Composed by Edward Elgar

2. Quintet for piano & strings in A minor, Op.84
Composed by Edward Elgar

Tracks:

Str Qt in e, Op.83: Allegro Moderato - Maggini Str Qt
Str Qt in e, Op.83: Piacevole (Poco Andante) - Maggini Str Qt
Str Qt in e, Op.83: Allegro Molto - Maggini Str Qt
Pn Qnt in a, Op.84: Moderato - Peter Donohoe/Maggini Str Qt
Pn Qnt in a, Op.84: Adagio - Peter Donohoe/Maggini Str Qt
Pn Qnt in a, Op.84: Andante-Allegro - Peter Donohoe/Maggini Str Qt

Customer Reviews:

Two Elgar masterpieces well played.......2007-01-31

Anyone who enjoys the piano quintets of Brahms, Schumann, and/or Dvorak should find much pleasure in listening to Elgar's quintet. The quartet intially struck me as dull, but subsequent listenings have altered my view completely. I think is this is a great quartet. Again, lovers of Brahms' quartets or his string quintets will find much to enjoy. The recording of the quartet is excellent. The recording of quintet is good. These are works worth knowing.

Do not buy this CD.......2006-05-13

I am amazed that so many people have found this recording so attractive. In my opinion, as a performing musician, who has played the Quintet, and who works regularly with world class string players, it is utterly appalling.

True, there are some dramatic moments to be heard, but overall these performances do little justice to Elgar's scores, let alone the colours and sounds that could be brought forth with a little imagination - and a bit of elbow grease. Wrong notes, ignored dynamics, ignored phrasing and even incorrect tempi abound. I'm not talking about one or two things here and there, they are all over the place, by the dozen.

The Quartet on this recording present such an ununified sound, I am amazed they actually regularly play together (perhaps they don't). The four instruments are completely unblended, and thus they all struggle to get to the foreground in louder passages. Donohoe's playing is again dramatic and intense, but any type of forte is simply brash. There is no variety of colour, no textural richness or swelling of the sound, all of which is so crucial in performances of romantic music, and especially when working with strings.

As a practicing musican, my honest verdict of this cd is that each piece was rehearsed and recorded in a day. I cannot honestly believe that any group of adult musicians, who are this experienced, would play this way if they actually had rehearsed the piece, or had played it to someone who knew the work well.

This cd presents the sort of sound and performance I would expect from a group of graduate students who were obliged to play together for chamber music credit - full of life but showing no refinement or attention to detail whatsoever. These distinguished and well known performers should be ashamed of themselves. If I had played that way, I would be.

A WINTER'S TALE.......2003-07-28

Very well recorded this, and at the price an outstanding bargain.

Considering their stature, these late and deeply characteristic pieces do not seem to be recorded very much. Both of them, particularly the quintet, seem to me even finer than the violin sonata that he wrote at around the same time, and I thought myself lucky to find so easily on one CD
performances worthy of my LP versions by the Claremont in the quartet and Ogdon and the Allegri in the quintet. To judge by broadcast versions that I have heard, the quintet seems to be a difficult work to bring off successfully -- the piano writing tends to sound square and awkward. Not so from Ogdon, not so from Donohoe. If pushed to a choice, my vote would probably still go to Ogdon and the Allegri for a slightly greater sense of impetus in the first movement, but nobody looking for a current version need hesitate about getting this one, especially if they want to hear a great soulful Elgarian climax in the slow movement -- a great moment on this record. In the quartet again the Maggini strike me as 'just right' and certainly as a thoroughly recommendable version for anyone just getting to know the piece. The Claremont version does not seem to be available now, and it is notable for a very adventurous account of the slow movement, taken at a very flowing tempo indeed. I have always reacted particularly positively to this performance which among other things recalls strongly the movement's obvious source of inspiration -- the marvellous andante of Brahms's A minor quartet. However the tempo the composer indicated is 'poco andante', and the Claremont give it at something more like 'molto andante', so while I still recommend collectors to keep a lookout in the hope that it will be reissued it may not be right for everyone.

The booklet when talking about the quintet gives some picturesque Lovecraftian detail about ghostly trees haunted by impious monks and whatnot. While I am glad to know all this, it never crosses my mind as I listen to pure music of this order. What does cross my mind is how well the quintet's finale negotiates the familiar late-romantic minefield of 'cyclical form' -- sc. bringing back themes from an earlier movement. Brahms's third symphony has a lot a lot to answer for here when I think of some of the shuddersome finales that picked up on the device. This one is lovely, resigned and autumnal, not quite Elgar's last musical word but getting on that way, and rendered here with a touching understanding that has more to say to me than any ghostly legends.

Sublime Elgar.......2001-10-09

Strikingly well recorded and performed, these late Elgar works present the composer at his most reflective. The 2nd movement Piacevole in the String Quartet is a soothing ray of sunshine, to paraphrase the composer's wife, and harks back to Elgar's Serenade for Strings of 25 years earlier. The remaining two movements are more of an acquired taste, with the composer's unsettled feelings clearly at the fore in the restless, searching nature of the music.

The Piano Quintet is an altogether different work, and a masterpiece at that. Pianist Peter Donohoe brings out the ravishing beauty of the 2nd movement Adagio, surely one of Elgar's most touching creations. The composer's genius for memorable, long-phrased melodies is on full display, and this movement is easily the equal of better-known Elgar works such as the Cello or Violin Concertos. George Bernard Shaw was one early listener who was dazzled by the Piano Quintet, commenting that Elgar had captured a completely new sound in his piano writing.

The Maggini String Quartet is in wonderful form throughout, alternately sensitive and passionate, and totally immersed in Elgar's idiom. A most beautiful disc from a still-underrated composer.

"The reminiscence of sinister trees".......2001-08-13

Edward Elgar wrote to his future wife, Alice, on September 18, 1917: "Everything good and nice and clean and fresh and sweet is far away -- never to return." Depressed by World War I, feeling old age's tentacles creep up on him (he was 62), he also knew that the listeners of the age of clamor had already begun to regard his quintessentially Edwardian music as an anachronism. So, deeply upset, he poured his soul into the four great works of 1918, the last year of the war -- the cello concerto, violin sonata, string quartet, and piano quintet. All were written in a minor key and mirror Elgar's feelings of horror, madness, lamentation, unrest, uncertainty, nostalgia, and also the little joys that make every kind of darkness bearable. Woven around a "questioning motif", the E minor string quartet and A minor piano quintet recorded here were premiered in London's Wigmore Hall on May 21, 1919. They were Elgar's last significant compositions. Afterward, he called it a day and retired from music, dying lonely and cancer-ridden in 1934.

The piano quintet is particularly interesting. The eery first movement is said to have been inspired by "the reminiscence of sinister trees", in Alice Elgar's words, referring to a cluster of lightning-mangled trees near Elgar's cottage in Sussex. Legend has it that they were the gnarled figures of a settlement of Spanish monks blasted by heaven as punishment for their "impious rites". Drawing on the myth, Elgar wove in a couple of haunting Spanish motifs, including a place where the first violin imitates a guitar by playing in pizzicato. The quintet's dark opening movement is followed by a soothing adagio, definitely inspired by sunnier memories and places, which gives way in turn to a thunderous andante-allegro in a major key (which I think is rather overbearing, coming right after the quiet second movement).

Tracks:

I. Allegro Moderato - Vellinger String Quartet
II. Piacevole (Poco Andante) - Vellinger String Quartet
III. Finale (Allegro Molto) - Vellinger String Quartet
In Moonlight (Canto Popolare) - Piers Lane
I. Moderato - Allegro - Piers Lane
II. Adagio - Piers Lane
III. Andante - Allegro - Piers Lane

Elgar: String Quartet, Op. 83 / Piano Quartet, Op. 84

Average customer rating:

Great Pieces - Great Recordings

Elgar: String Quartet, Op. 83 / Piano Quartet, Op. 84
Ian Brown , and Sorrel Quartet
Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B00005A8EM
Release Date: 2001-04-24

Tracks:

Str Qt in e, Op.83: I. Allegro Moderato - Sorrel Qt
Str Qt in e, Op.83: II. Piacevole (Poco Andante) - Sorrel Qt
Str Qt in e, Op.83: III. Allegro Molto - Sorrel Qt
Pno Qnt in a, Op.84: I. Moderato - Allegro - Ian Brown
Pno Qnt in a, Op.84: II. Adagio - Ian Brown
Pno Qnt in a, Op.84: III. Andante - Allegro - Ian Brown

Amazon.com

Elgar's large-scale rhetorical works are now familiar to most, but his chamber music deserves to be better known. These expansive three-movement pieces are late works, elegiac and deeply personal. The Quartet centers on a tenderly intimate slow movement. Flanking it are a tersely argued opening Allegro moderato and a Finale that has the fire and scale of some of his orchestral pieces. The Quintet, rhetorical and dramatic, is perhaps more immediately accessible. It, too, has a central Adagio movement of aching beauty. Ian Brown's muscular pianism doesn't lack for introspection when needed, and the four women of the Sorrel Quartet play both pieces with technical aplomb, stylish command, and the warmth that brings them to life. Choosing between this version, the Maggini Quartet on Naxos, and the classic EMI recordings with John Ogden in the Quintet is difficult; all capture the Elgarian essence of this fine music. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews:

Great Pieces - Great Recordings.......2006-01-18

This is a fantastic CD. The pieces are extremely underrated, and this is a great recording of them. It was the only recording I could find at the time I was looking, and I have been very pleased. Great rich dark sounds and an ideal balance between piano and strings. They also have a beautiful way of playing Elgar's melodious phrases that is very emotional. I highly recommend this CD!

Elgar: Piano Quintet, Op.84/Quartet For Strings, Op.83

Average customer rating:

Elgar-Chamber Music

Elgar: Piano Quintet, Op.84/Quartet For Strings, Op.83

Manufacturer: Koch Discover Int'l
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Pno Qnt, Op.84: Moderato
Pno Qnt, Op.84: Adagio
Pno Qnt, Op.84: Andante - Allegro
Qt, Op.83: Allegro Moderato
Qt, Op.83: Piacevole (Poco Andante)
Qt, Op.83: Finale (Allegro Molto)

Customer Reviews:

Elgar-Chamber Music.......2003-07-28

With the Violin Sonata, the first "masterpiece" to come from Elgar's pen after the first World War, one finds a unique expansiveness in Edward Elgar's music that was completely uncharacteristic of his earlier lush Edwardian style( analogous to a big comfy couch). This new style was simplified in technique but far more complex in its meaning. In his later works, we hear not the grand apotheosis that graced the closing pages of the First Symphony or the Violin Concerto. Rather, we hear something liek resignation-a quiet acceptance of what it is and what will always be. Such a conviction in his later style (of resignation) brings to the music nostalgia. And believe this, to perform Elgar, one must have that nostalgic flare-something very distinct yet gleaming.

This recording of the Aura Ensemble brings both that feeling of expansiveness and nostalgia that was so common in Elgar's "Late Style." Despite one out-of-tune note in the first violin in the last mov. of the Piano Quintet, the playing is quite alive. It truly paints perfectly Elgar's intended soundscapes. I highly recommend this recording to both Elgar enthusiasts and those who are just discovering his magical realm.

Sir Edward Elgar: String Quartet in E minor, Op. 83 / Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84 - John Bingham / The Medici Quartet
Average customer rating:
Sir Edward Elgar: String Quartet in E minor, Op. 83 / Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84 - John Bingham / The Medici Quartet

Manufacturer: Meridian
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
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All Works by Elgar | Elgar, Sir Edward | ( E ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B000003X96
Release Date: 1993-09-18

Tracks:

Str Qt in e, Op 83: Allegro Moderato
Str Qt in e, Op 83: Piacevole (Poco Andante)
Str Qt in e, Op 83: Finale-Allegro Moderato
Pno Qnt in a, Op 84: Moderato-Allegro
Pno Qnt in a, Op 84: Adagio
Pno Qnt in a, Op 84: Andante-Allegro

String Quartet in e, Op. 83 / Piano Quintet in A, Op. 84

Average customer rating:

String Quartet in e, Op. 83 / Piano Quintet in A, Op. 84
Elgar , David Owen Norris , and Mistry String Quartet
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B00000E4WZ
Release Date: 1992-08-11

Elgar: String Quartet in E minor, Op. 83 / Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84 - Chilingirian String Quartet / Bernard Roberts

Average customer rating:

Elgar: String Quartet in E minor, Op. 83 / Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84 - Chilingirian String Quartet / Bernard Roberts

Manufacturer: EMI Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000025GGY
Release Date: 2000-05-23