Elgar: Nursery Suite, Serenade, Dream Children & other works

English Chamber Orchestra/Paul Goodwin

Harmonia Mundi (USA) 907258

Playing Time: 59:31

Anthony Kershaw

The record company marketing folks have jumped on the positive review coat tails of this release very quickly. ‘Hype’ stickers seem to have been placed on the outside wrapping as soon as the (printed) word was out. There was some audiophile buzz on the WWW upon its release, and after several hearings, I feel its ‘Blockbuster Recording’ sticker has been well earned.

The pairing of English Chamber Orchestra + Sir Edward Elgar miniatures would not be an instinctive audiophile choice for ‘blockbuster’ repertoire, but here it is -- the ECO playing marvelously  in true audiophile quality sound. The tone of the orchestra is superb and captured in a very wide and deep soundstage. I cannot tell if engineers Brad Michel and Geoff Miles have added a little ‘something’ to the acoustic of London’s Henry Wood Hall (even through the very clinical engineering of Dieter Burmester’s exceedingly expensive Power-Amplifier 911/Pre-Amp 001 combination), but it sounds every bit as good as the old Decca Kingsway recordings. The justly famous ECO sound comes through so clearly that I was able to distinguish the individual timbres of the eight outstanding first violinists.

I have played most of Elgar’s large orchestra repertoire but never any of the smaller works recorded here. After the broad nobility of his famous symphonies and oratorios, it came as a great surprise to hear the delicacy of Elgar’s touch in Sospiri, Dream Children, In Moonlight, and Elegy. All receive what may be called definitive performances. Even the Barbirolli and Boult recordings are matched note for note in subtlety and execution. Although these works are gorgeous, it is the performances of the splendid Nursery Suite and famous Serenade that are the high points of the CD.

The Nursery Suite’s opening Aubade awakens feelings of warm summer days, broken very gently by the sweet flute playing of William Bennett in The Serious Doll. The Wagon Passes will pass directly into audiophile demo territory, if I know my colleagues. The cellos and violas start the wagon rolling in steady time and lead it by the listener with full woodwind and percussion added. It’s not as crushingly loud as Mussourgsky/Ravel’s ox cart in Pictures at an Exhibition, but the smaller wagon will test the resolution powers of your system in a musical way.

The Serenade’s first movement viola opening is what first captured my attention on HM’s yearly CD sampler. Quintin Ballardie (founder of the ECO) and his section sound articulate and rhythmically incisive; the resin jumps off the bow. The interpretation is sweet, but dynamic when Elgar calls for some variation.

Adding luster to the wonderful strings is the formidable array of ECO wind and percussion. All play their hearts out for conductor Paul Goodwin. Goodwin is the fine oboe soloist heard on so many period instrument recordings. On this evidence, his turn at conducting is exceptionally assured. True, the ECO members could play these works in their sleep, but it takes a confident hand to steer the players through the changes in tempo and style. Goodwin and the band deliver the goods.

Along with the splendid Harmonia Mundi recording and superb performances of the ECO, the CD is one of the loveliest packages I have seen. Complement these fineries with excellent notes, soloist and conductor bios and photos, and orchestral lists (how I wish this were a standard courtesy), and we have an essential new addition to Elgar’s recorded legacy.