Zoltán Kodály: The Peacock Variations; Boris Blacher: Paganini Variations;
Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Georg Solti
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 302 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical | Label: London/Decca | # 452 853-2 | Time: 01:07:41
Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Georg Solti
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 302 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical | Label: London/Decca | # 452 853-2 | Time: 01:07:41
Celebrating his half-century as a Decca artist, as well as his eighty-fifth birthday, Sir Georg Solti here offers a nicely autobiographical collection of three sets of variations: the Peacock Variations of Kodaly representing his Hungarian roots, the lively Paganini Variations of Blacher a recognition of his years as German citizen, and finally a tribute to his unique Britishness in Elgar's Enigma Variations. The disc is also a tribute to the Vienna Philharmonic and Solti's special relationship with that orchestra, with whom he recorded these live performances in the Musikverein last April. You have only to compare this warmly expressive, subtly nuanced, and deeply felt account of the Elgar with Solti's earlier Chicago version of 1974 to appreciate not only the quality of this great Viennese orchestra, but the way in which Solti has mellowed over the last two decades.