Daniel Barenboim recorded a good deal of Elgar as a young phenom in the 1970s, and he has returned to it as conductor of the venerable Staatskapelle Berlin in old age. The results have been impressive -- weighty, but impressive. Whether because he is playing to the orchestra's strengths or simply because he has reinterpreted the music, he has delivered readings that tie Elgar to the Wagner-Strauss tradition. He has an ideal ally this time around in mezzo-soprano Elina Garanča, heard in the lovely Sea Pictures, Op. 37. One could easily take her for a native English singer when it comes to diction, but the rich chest tones come from points farther east, and the result is a highly absorbing performance of this wonderful and rather underexposed work. Falstaff, Op. 68, feels like a Strauss tone poem with its action-packed brass and percussion work, really worth hearing on their own merits. If one misses a bit of the lightness of the long British tradition of recording these works, well, there is a great deal here in the way of compensation. It's a heavy Falstaff, but a well-executed and well-thought-through one that Barenboim fans are going to eat up.
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