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Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis; Fantasia on | |||||
 
| 100% Recommended by our customers. Label: EMI Classics Catalog: Music Release date: 2000-03-14 Media: Audio CD discs number: 1 Format: Original recording reissued Ean: 0724356726420 Upc: 724356726420  Tip: compare prices with similar classical music CDs |
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| amazon.com | Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served. | $11.98 | |
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| Album tracks: (3) |
 Allegro piacevole | Larghetto | Allegretto |
| User Reviews: |
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Written on November 11, 2003 Summary: Little Comes Close. In this review you won't find detailed information concerning the composers or the conductor or who/whatever else. That aside, I want to tell you that this CD is incomparable. Absolutely fabulous, in other words. Thus far this disc has only received 5 star ratings from Amazon customers, I think, and this should tell you something. How I Discovered This Treasure: One day I was leafing through The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs (classical music, of course; there could be others), and therein I noticed that this particular CD received a glowing review and, not sure about this, two Rosettes. Having had excellent experiences with Penguin's special award (and the whole book), I checked Amazon (of course), and after reading more good things I rushed out and purchased this mid-priced CD. Joy! Allegri String Quartet's playing is virtuoso. This CD really offers sublime versions of these pieces. Without the shadow of a doubt, a treasure. Don't hesitate. Written on April 5, 2002 Summary: Sir John at his best This disc simply amazing. Has there ever, or, for that matter, will there ever be a better performance of elgar's "introduction and allegro?" I seriously doubt it...barbirolli was a fantastic cellist and evidently kept it up even when he did most of his work as a conductor. His knowledge of the tonal palette of a great body of strings is remarkable. He bowed all of his string parts, and it really shows up in the performance...he had it all under control. His sense of rubato is also uncanny. Indeed, the performance by which all others are measured. I also think this could be barbirolli's best recording, and in my opinion he made a bunch of great ones. You might as well get this CD for this piece, if nothing else. The elgar string serenade is a lovely little piece and barbirolli perfectly catches the overall nostalgic mood of the piece. He also dazzles in the vaughn williams music as well as the two shorter elgar selections. String music composer by a string player (elgar was a violinist), and conducted by another fabulous string player in barbirolli, and the strings of the london sinfonia certainly rise to an incredible occasion. Simply unsurpassable, as another reviewer said. Written on May 31, 2001 Summary: One of the great treasures of recorded music In my will, I outline briefly the kind of memorial service that I would like to have. Nothing fancy. Cremation. No flowers. But one very, very important part of the service would be a period of meditation in which a recording of Sir John Barbirolli conducting "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" is played. Partly this is because I want to leave my friends with this parting gift, and partly because I think this music is as close to heavenly as I can conceive. Over the years, I have owned 4 or 5 recordings of the Tallis Fantasia, and have heard 5 or 6 others (regretably, I have never heard it performed live, which is something I dearly hope for at some point in the future). Several of them are quite excellent. Karajan, surprisingly, did one of the very best on an old Mono recording (frequently out of print, but currently available on a Karajan compilation disc with pieces by Britten and Stravinsky) with the London Philharmonic. But the Barbirolli easily surpasses the best of all the rest. This recording has been available on and off over the years, and I would urge anyone who cares for beautiful music, for the Tallis Fantasia, for string music, for English classical music, or for Vaughan Williams, to get his or her own copy while this is available. I should add that over the years I have read innumerable reviews of the Tallis Fantasia, and the Barbirolli is always the standard by which the measure of the new efforts is taken. Frequently reviewers will write lines like, "Although it does not reach the heights of Barbirolli's version . . ." The disc is frequently acknowledged as one of the great classical recordings of all time. And justly so. While the Tallis Fantasia is the greatest gem on the recording, the Elgar pieces are quite superb on their own, so that there is more than one reason to own this CD. I enthusiastically recommend this album to anyone who cares about music. Written on July 15, 2000 Summary: Unsurpassable Of the many CDs of English music that I have in my collection, this is without any doubt the best. I think it contains the finest performances ever given of every work on it and it's very probably Barbirolli's best recording, too. The two major pieces on the disc, the Tallis Fantasia and the Introduction and Allegro, demonstrate the huge range of effects that the players were capable of. The Introduction and Allegro is both polished and immensely fiery, with the quartet of soloists perfectly integrated with the rest of the strings. The fugue- which Elgar called "a devil... with all sorts of japes and counterpoint" is played with complete clarity, quite an achievement given the apparent thickness of Elgar's scoring. The piece certainly benefits from Barbirolli's own practical experience; being a professional cellist before he began conducting, he knew exactly what was possible from the instruments and the huge range of dynamics and bowing styles used here show that he exploited that knowledge to the full in the making of this recording. The earlier Serenade, while slighter but in no way lacking in substance, displays many mature Elgarian signs and is dispatched with similar elan to the larger work. It sounds suitably gentle yet with the suggestion of something darker beneath the surface, as do the two short Elgar pieces, the Elegy and Sospiri. As the booklet notes say, these pieces don't last for ten minutes put together, yet Barbirolli instils an unmistakeable sense of heartbreak in both of them. The Tallis Fantasia, however, requires a very different approach, far more reticent than the openly emotional one required for Elgar's music. Again, Barbirolli catches the sense of mystery and ecclesiastical grandeur to perfection and the effect of the quietest possible pianissimos is magical. Vaughan Williams's wife said that this was much the best recording ever made of the piece and it isn't hard to see why; the double quartet and soloists are perfectly balanced against the larger group of players and this adds immeasurably to one's appreciation of Vaughan Williams's scoring with specific antiphonal effects in mind. This performance is the perfect example for explaing Howells's comment that strings were capable of producing "sonority without noise;" here, they make a very beautiful sound indeed and they are certainly helped by the recording quality. It certainly belies its 1962 vintage! In short, this is an indispensable CD. It belongs in any serious collection, for it contains performances that have never even been approached of some of the finest works by two of England's greatest composers- all overseen by a conductor who remains unbeatable in this repertoire. Written on June 4, 2000 Summary: this is a desert island record I agree with the other reviewers' comments about the distinction of the Elgar, except to say I would not, on a personal level only, rank the Introduction and Allegro ahead of the Tallis Fantasia. To me that is like comparing Chateauneuf-du-Pape to Chateau Mouton Rothschild. Suffice to say both are great and should be enjoyed with great pleasure on their own right. In regards to the Tallis, this performance remains my favourite among a very strong field of contenders - Boult, Ormandy, Karajan et al - due to the distinctive balancing of the antiphonal writing for the two string orchestras. The solo playing is at such a high level that it disarms criticism. The very opening is very mysterious, understated, and magically ethereal, and the listener is caught up in a spiritual experience where the notes are almost forgotten about altogether. There are few works that attain such exaltation - among them the slow movements of Beethoven's 9th and Bruckner's 8th, the St. Matthew Passion, the Good Friday Music from Parsifal and the late Beethoven Quartets come to mind - but this deserves to be in that special class. This music makes an indelible impression. The documentation is very good and the recording quality is better than it was; indeed, anyone who bought the original LPs should invest in this new release without hesitation. The Greensleeves at the end is very welcome too and the sound of the solo flute after over 20 minutes of string music is quite extraordinary in its own way. The solo string playing here is beautiful too. Most enthusiastically recommended. |
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| Our price | $11.98 | $9.99 | $13.99 | $31.49 | $3.98 | $10.98 |
| List price | $11.98 | $10.98 | $16.98 | $34.98 | $3.98 | $10.98 |
| Lowest used price | $39.98 | $5.65 | $6.99 | $19.50 | $1.29 | $4.70 |
| Lowest new price | $11.98 | $6.60 | $9.26 | $19.26 | $1.55 | $5.84 |
| Catalog | Music | Music | Music | Music | Music | Music |
| Release date | 2000-03-14 | 1991-10-11 | 1990-10-25 | 2004-03-09 | 1995-10-17 | 1991-09-12 |
| Media | Audio CD | Audio CD | Audio CD | Audio CD | Audio CD | Audio CD |
| discs number | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| Format | Original recording reissued | - | - | - | Original recording remastered | - |
| Ean | 0724356726420 | 0077776402222 | 0028941459527 | 0828765570824 | 0724356902220 | 0077776401829 |
| Upc | 724356726420 | 077776402222 | 028941459527 | 828765570824 | 724356902220 | 077776401829 |
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