Posted on

CD of the Week- ESO, A portrait of Elgar

Click here to buy.

Reviews

‘Boughton elicits solid, brilliant, feeling performances … As these performances meld something of Boult’s propulsion and body with an approximation of Barbirolli’s swing, they might serve as the ideal introduction. This production stands strongly recommended.’ Fanfare

‘The Elegy, is given a wonderful degree of gravity without ever over-heating – one of the tenderest versions on disc. The lightweight Serenade for strings is phrased with delicacy. The Chanson de nuit and Chanson de matin are given in arrangements for string orchestra which work well.The set as a whole can be heartily commended to newcomers to Elgar’s music and they give a pretty comprehensive view of his orchestral works.’ Paul Corfield Godfrey, MusicWeb-International.com, August 2012

Elgar Portrait 1

 

Posted on

October 8- A String Pilgrimage, Elgar Concert Hall

October 8th at Elgar Concert Hall, Birmingham University Campus

 

Elgar Concert Hall in the Bramall Music Building
Elgar Concert Hall in the Bramall Music Building

7:30 PM
English String Orchestra
Kenneth Woods- principal conductor

Tippett- Concerto for Double String Orchestra
John McCabe- “Pilgrim” for Double String Orchestra
Vaughan Williams- Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis
Elgar- Introduction and Allegro for Strings

Tickets: £16, £12, £8
Town Hall Symphony Hall Box Office  0121 345 0600
Click here for booking details

 

Composer-in-association, John McCabe (photo Gareth Arnold)
Composer-in-association, John McCabe (photo Gareth Arnold)

ESO String Quartet- Michael Bochmann, Angus Gibbon-violins, Helen Roberts- viola, Peter Adams- cello

The ESO’s first concert in the splendid acoustic of Elgar Hall with a survey of the best of English string orchestra music “Pilgrim” by ESO composer-in-association  John McCabe is a powerful evocation of John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress.” McCabe’s predecessor as ESO composer-in-association was Sir Michael Tippett, whose vibrant and witty Concerto opens the concert. Few works have won the kind of place in listener’s hearts held by Vaughan Williams’ haunting Fantasia, a work the ESO has recorded to international acclaim. Finally, what better finale could there be for a concert in Elgar Hall than one of the master’s own finest works, performed by the orchestra based in his home town of Malvern?

 

 

 

Part of the ESO’s

OCTOBERevolution FINAL

Posted on

English String Orchestra- Dvorak and Tchaikovsky

English String Orchestra
Kenneth Woods- principal conductor

 

ESO

Tchaikovsky- Serenade for Strings
Shostakovich- Chamber Symphony op 110a
Dvorak- Serenade for Strings

 

Kenneth Woods and the English String Orchestra kick off our 2014 season with an evening of string masterworks from Eastern Europe.

Melodious serenades from Dvorak and Tchaikovsky bracket a performance of Shostakovich’s powerful Chamber Symphony opus 110a, conducted by one of today’s most active proponents of his music.