What's going to be the big seller of the 2024 holiday season? Perhaps this pairing of the
Edward Elgar
and
William Walton
cello concertos, which made classical best-seller lists in the late autumn of that year. There are plenty of recordings of these two concertos, including some on which they are paired, but this one is a standout. Cellist
Gautier Capuçon
and conductor
Antonio Pappano
, leading the
London Symphony Orchestra
, work well together;
Pappano
is known as an opera conductor, and he achieves a hyper-dramatic quality that
Capuçon
matches with highly emotional playing. Sample the slow movement of the
Elgar
concerto, with characters almost palpably moving around the stage. In other passages,
forges an edgier sound with the orchestra.
Walton
's
Cello Concerto
of 1956 is certainly haunted by
's concerto from 1919, with the two works both leading up to expansive finales. But
's work has a jazz influence at various junctures, and throughout this concerto,
has a dry texture that plays nicely off
's lyricism. It holds together very well, and both
and the orchestra are in top form in these technically fairly complex scores. This release bodes well indeed for
's upcoming tenure as chief conductor of the
LSO
. ~ Jim Manheim