BBC Symphony Orchestra, Edward Gardner – Elgar: Symphony No. 2 & Serenade (2018) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Following a highly-praised recording of Symphony No. 1 last year, Edward Gardner and the BBC Symphony present here an electrifying interpretation of Elgar’s Symphony No. 2, with the addition of one of his most performed works: the Serenade for Strings.

Having now become experts in British repertoire with highly lauded series of Walton and Britten, they reveal all the aspects of Elgar’s masterpiece in this surround sound recording. Symphony No. 2 is richly orchestrated and skilfully constructed, drawing on hugely varied resources of harmony, rhythm and melody, and making considerable use of thematic transformation as a unifying technique.

While the Symphony No.2 is one of the greatest products of Elgar’s maturity, the Serenade in E minor for Strings is perhaps the most charming product of his youth. In this three-movement piece dominated by a deeply passionate Larghetto, the strings of the BBC Symphony superbly encapsulate all the emotions offered by this graceful work: tender, lyrical and intense.

Elgar’s epigraph to his Second Symphony, from Shelley, “Rarely, rarely comest thou, Spirit of Delight!”, can be taken two ways: with the emphasis on “rarely”, or in the sense “yet it does come”. Gardner’s vigorous reading favours the latter meaning. His finale is powerfully positive — the abrasive development played down, the conclusion radiant. – Sunday Times, 27th May 2018

Tracklist

Symphony No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op. 63
01. I. Allegro vivace e nobilmente
02. II. Larghetto
03. III. Rondo
04. IV. Moderato e maestoso

Serenade in E Minor, Op. 20
05. I. Allegro piacevole
06. II. Larghetto
07. III. Allegretto

Personnel
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Edward Gardner, conductor

Download:

mqs.link_EdwardElgarSymphnyN.2Serenade20182496.part1.rar
mqs.link_EdwardElgarSymphnyN.2Serenade20182496.part2.rar