Elgar 'In the South' (Alassio) - Riccardo Muti / Philadelphia Orchestra

[@msmarebear71]

The moment I heard this song My heart calmed and found complete peace! I found this piece to be so so beautiful words can't even define the beauty I feel from it.

[@josephdiluzio6719]

I was extremely fortunate to be present for the Saturday night performance of the Elgar. The élan, the Glorious ensemble of all of the orchestra's formidable choirs, were brought to bear I'm what resulted was it totally idiomatic performance with total identification with the music itself

[@elgar104]

What another snorter from Elgar. Honestly.... he's so undervalued in the pantheon of greats.... but i put him up there with the very very best of them.

[@maxwittmann5285]

Grande Elgar , grande Muti , bellissima Alassio.

[@kh23797]

It's a fascinating amalgam, a brilliant American orchestra playing an English piece heavily influenced by a German master, dedicated to an Italian town and its imagined history, conducted by an Italian maestro who obviously knows the piece in depth and has made time for proper rehearsal. Never heard it played better (since first hearing, 1970). Muti tweaks the dynamics and tempi to great effect - for example, in the brilliant finale.

[@peterfeltham5612]

Well written sir.

[@RobertMacGregor-wi8uv]

How does that old joke go? America is the only country where a Jew and a Frenchman can go to a Chinese resturant and order a hamburger in honor of St. Patrick's Day!

[@markhughes7927]

Great invigorating performance!

[@deniseburcham1588]

Incredible!! Bravo, Muti...Bravo, Elgar!!!!

[@loves5leon]

Did 5 miles on my bike in the 21 minutes of this magnificence!! And the crowd goes wild for me! \0/ !

[@paullewis2413]

IMO the finest overture ever written and Muti does it proud!

[@giuseppecattaneo4369]

superba interpretazione dell'orchestra , e grandissimo Muti

[@henrygingercat]

We Brits are always dead chuffed when foreigners play the likes of our Elgar. Especially when then do it as spectacularly well as this.

[@smudger671]

Yes, it's a great performance.

[@BalbirSingh-gr2qk]

🙏 for glorious rendering.

[@JohanHerrenberg]

Terrific performance. Many thanks!

[@rinosquarzoni9438]

bellissimo poema di Elgar bravo Muti.

[@yolainesene8691]

Thank you

[@doncraig3536]

This is a finer rendition than Silvestri.Such a shame it is not available on cd.However anything is possible these days.Muti,and the Philadelphia orchestra at their finest.Superb!

[@songsmith31a]

I have both the LP and later CD issue of thsi work by Silvestri and the Bournemouth orchestra. They played out of their skins for him in a recording that stands alongside their playing of the V-W "Tallis Fantasia" in a magical atmospheric recording from Winchester cathedral. Compared with the mighty Philadelphia Orchestra, they would have been barely considered but their performance is superb and gained huge justifiable admiration.

[@marcelolasta3228]

Maravilloso.Maravilloso.Maravilloso.Y aniden en su alma lo Maravilloso.

[@almarkhat6379]

I like the 'harald in italy' bit at 11:01. Good that Elgar was completely self taught and liked going to the races!

[@Mraldo1999]

Finalmente!!!!!! Lo cercavo da tanto tempo!!! Grazie!! :)

[@dvimus100]

Superb performance of this notoriously difficult work. Does not displace Silvestri but easily placed alongside his recording. Two different approaches and both are fabulous.

[@andrewroberts8139]

I don't think it's that hard to play.

[@morrigambist]

@@andrewroberts8139 If memory serves, Tovey said that when he put it before his orchestra, only one person was not sight-reading, but that one obviously made the rehearsal flow.

[@thetoynbeeconvector]

This is the most musical performance I know of a work that is very difficult to bring off. Move over Silvestri indeed.

[@songsmith31a]

Silvestri drew a memorable performance of "In The South" from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, an ensemble that was probably a "poor relation" in comparison to the mighty Philadelphia Orchestra.. Their recording on the original LP included a magically atmpspheric version of Vaughan-Williams "Tallis Fantasia" (made in Winchester Cathedral) plus "The Wasps" Overture. Re-released on CD, it remains a great addition to the classic music catalogue..

[@windstorm1000]

a bit of strauss mixed in there with the tea and cannoli! still its elgar joy and ambiguity--

[@callmeBe]

Yes, you certainly hear a huge bit of Strauss in this work! And yet Elgar holds his own modestly well.

[@wotrabbitfish]

BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Allanfearn]

Move over, Silvestri, I'm afraid. This is very close to perfect

[@smudger671]

Pity about the sound.

[@DerLiesl]

Viola solo starts at 10:54

[@rosemarystandley1747]

I wish they had video of the orchestra playing. Betting I know someone in the horn section.

[@TheVaughan5]

Great performance from Muti, as I would expect, interestingly the one that blew me away was from an unlikely source, Polish National Radio Orchestra/Jacek Kaspszky, never have I heard such incredible orchestral sound!

[@eastwood1941]

The same orchestra the Polish National Orchestra, under Jacek Kaspczyk, also have on you tube a very fine performance of Elgar's Enigma variation. The sound is wonderful, and the sheer commitment of conductor and orchestra is something amazing. Not to be missed!

[@songsmith31a]

@@eastwood1941 I cetainly recall the Warsaw Philharmonic under the said conductor giving a memorable performance of The Enigma Variations on KZbin - and commented accordingly.

[@Skidoo22]

Philadelphia string portamento 0:21

[@edzardlocher426]

hell yeah! is it really in the score or just their ballsy version?

[@ralphadams9234]

❤

[@angeloravera324]

Alassio (Liguria)!!!!

[@阿部英司-k4s]

燦々と照りつける太陽、青くすみきった海、 熱く渇いた砂浜、限り無く暑く明るい エルガーサウンド。 まだまだ、 現役のムーティ、フィラデルフィア時代の名演ですね。

[@adam28xx]

Google translate: "The shining sun, the blue and dull sea, Hot and thirsty sandy beach, infinitely hot and bright Elgar sound. not yet, It's a masterpiece from the Philadelphia era, the active Muti."

[@EASYTIGER10]

Sounds quite Straussian at times. Did Elgar get much opportunity to hear Richard Strauss's music?

[@MichaelSydneyJones]

Yes. Strauss was his first champion, when the English establishment wouldn't give him a break! He made it in Germany before England.

[@bobwatt8282]

They were great friends. This year at the Proms they had the US Youth Orchestra (bravo!!) playing Strauss An Alpine Symphony and there was a short interval discussion of the friendship. As an encore the Orchestra played Elgar's Nimrod . Given the politics of our present time - which is far too close to the environment in which Strauss and Elgar worked- it is good to think that they were friends.

[@b286guy]

Interesting to compare this performance to a more recent one with the Chicago Symphony. While it's similar in style, Muti now takes a more relaxed tempo with this piece.

[@aegfp]

単純に言えば情景音楽だろうに 涙が出てくる okwe...

[@HeadHood]

Has that Richard Strauss sound...no wonder the Germans ate it up!

[@elainebmack]

A wonderful live performance of a very difficult piece, recorded in 1986 when the Philadelphia Orchestra strings still had elements of the lush sound they were noted for during the time of Eugene Ormandy. Muti had begun to trim some of the heavy "velvet" from that sound, increasing the flexibility of the orchestra, which was a good thing in many ways. Unfortunately, after so many music directors since Muti's departure in the early 1990's, the Philadelphia Orchestra now sounds like a good, generic American orchestra - nothing special or distinctive.

[@paullewis2413]

The fact they have lost the famous "Philadelphia sound" is a great shame. Too many generic orchestras today. EMI's recording in the late 70's of Sibelius' "Four Legends" with Ormandy is one of the finest to capture their special sound and it blows me away every time I listen.

[@mrsuperguy2073]

Am I the only one that is reminded of star wars by this? At least in the 1st couple minutes...

[@garnerjazz58]

That's because Elgar is one of John Wms.' favorite composers to borrow from, along with many others. The noble throne room theme from Star Wars is straight out of Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance.

[@mckernan603]

I was hearing the Wagner influence in both

[@elgar104]

You better not listen to Eric Korngolds Kings Row score. You'll have your mind blown. Williams borrowed.... extensively. Ahem.

[@Badmintonforall]

le début, on dirait du Richard Strauss...

[@RobertMacGregor-wi8uv]

FIRST. People may not realize what we lost..As Robert Shaw( the greatest Choral conductor EVER and conductor of many orchestras) said in 1982 ' Outside of a FEW moments of the NBC orchestra under Toscaninni, this orchestra has consistently made the GREATEST music of any orchestra in history' , and most all authorities, lije Rachmaninoff, have agreed..only arguements were ever over what group was number 2 and 3. ...and I see that we lost the WONDERFUL Norman Carol, Concertmaster from 1966 thru 1994 (?) The handsone EMBODIEMENT of class, quality and seriousness that helped seperate the Philly from the rest, who died this spring at age 95....ANYWAY, I heard ' In the South' done by the Philly with Eugene Ormandy about 1976 or 1977... It was MUCH better than this version and not ANYWHERE as slow or bland. The orchestra went downhill under Muti..first he was greeted with a lot of enthusiasm by orchestra and audiences alike as young handsone, flashy and dynamic, big contrast to elderly and ' close to the vest' conducting by Ormandy, which worked cause the old man was ALWAYS in control. But most people would not 'go to watch Ormandy conduct' you want sweat and effusiion, try Bernstein, who would have given his life to trade Orchestras with Ormandy. Then it was realized by many that Muti was not in the same class as his predecessor as a musician, it took more than surface and good looks, long hair. I attended over 100 concerts of the Philidelphia under Ormandy, met him, and only abt a dozen under Muti over the next few years. It was too bad to go vanilla and lose the 'sound'...the FANTASTIC string section was what REALLY seperated them from ALL THE OTHERS. If you didnt hear them live then you have no idea what you missed. I recently heard a concert by a leading orchestra in the EU which presented, among others ' Die Meistersinger' 'overture' ( it isnt really that) and compered how the orchestra 'swelled up' at the climax and, tho probably 80 musicians, it was a mere shadow of what the Philly could do...and another orchestra's ' ' Rustic Chivalry' ( easier for me to spell in english.).the crescendo at the end, i kept thinking " C'mon, is THAT the BEST you can do?" God bless Eugene Ormandy and Norman Carol.