Elgar's Cello Concerto (Karajan/Du Pre)

Greetings gentlemen - long time, no see....

Ahhh, the old classic. I understand this EMI recording is one of the most popular in the UK, and not bad technically to boot. EMI have recently remastered the album at Abbey Road and put it in their "Great Recordings of the Twentieth Century" series.

My question is... Does anyone know if the remastering is better/worse/no different to the original? (which also seems to have been previously remastered in '97)

Tones, GrahamN (if you're out there) - I'd particularly value your opinions...

Cheers
Hamsta

 

I think you surely mean Barbirolli/Du Pre?. Not sure if Karajan ever recorded any of Elgar's music as he regarded it as 2nd rate Brahms. I don't agree with him!

 

Barbirolli / Du Pre is the "classic" one on EMI GROC which everyone seems to rate as the best thing since sliced bread - there's also a Barenboim / Du Pre on Sony / CBS IIRC from rather later on which doesn't really catch fire the same way.

 

Hi Hamsta...how it hangin' (or somthing like that). You been elevated to supreme being status get, or still just a ward demi-God ?

Basically what they said. I've heard a few other versions and none have the heft and passion of du Pre (which I was actually listening to this morning, while responding to some mild :knight: from Alan ). Isserlis is so recessed as to be virtually inaudible, and Ma (certainly live) is intense, but rather self-indulgent...making it all rather soupy. As for the Barbirolli/duPre, I have a version remastered in 1986, and I love it despite rather than because of the sound quality. It's rally rather brittle and nasty, but the performance makes that irrelevant. I can only assume that more recent remasterings are a significant improvement, but as I've not heard them I can't really comment. There actually seem to be about 6 different releases of this reconding at present!

 

If you want a laugh have a listen to the Lyn Harrel recording. It's truly execrable. From the opening entry it's one catalogue of bad intonation followed by dire playing. God knows what he was thinking of

 

Thanks for the input everyone. Still not sure which I'll spring for though...

Yeah, you're right of course! Don't mind the dumb-ass from down-under.

Hey Graham. It's all good mate, except that I'm off crook for a couple a days with a particularly crap head cold that my lovely wife passed on to me. Still working on the wards and in clinics. Am actually looking at emigrating to London in the near future for a stint working for Imperial College at Central Middlesex Hospital. May be over as early as January if a position comes available, otherwise more like September. Be good to catch up again. Never found that "Organ Death Music" CD of yours - OOP I think. Have a copy of Reference Recordings' "Pomp & Pipes" (Dallas Wind Symphony + pipe organ) as recommended in HFC's Top 40 Test Discs last year. It's good, but nowhere near as brutal as your evil disc

Cheers
Hamsta