Elgar & Walton: Cello Concertos

Featuring

Gautier Capuçon
Antonio Pappano
London Symphony Orchestra
Edward Elgar
Sir William Walton

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Compositional Technique

Walton's Cello Concerto uses a richer harmonic palette and a more diverse, colorful orchestra, including a vibraphone, celesta, and harp.

Performer Biography

Gautier Capuçon, the cellist on this recording, has played his Matteo Goffriller cello from 1701 for over 20 years.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Antonio Pappano notes that Elgar's music, though influenced by German composers like Wagner, possesses a great nobility that went out of fashion in the early 20th century.

Interpretation

Antonio Pappano, the conductor, believes English music has much to say if performed with full intensity and drama, a quality the London Symphony Orchestra excels at.

Composition History

Elgar's Cello Concerto, his last important composition, was written mostly in 1919 after World War I, when the 61-year-old composer was ill and confronted with his own mortality.

Historical Context

This album pairs Elgar's Cello Concerto, written after World War I, with Walton's Cello Concerto, composed after World War II, reflecting English music history.

Critical Reception

The Elgar Cello Concerto was not regularly performed until the 1965 EMI recording by Jacqueline du Pré and John Barbirolli with the London Symphony Orchestra.