Issued in 1965 and one of EMI's best-sellers ever since, this Elgar coupling in its new digital transfer makes the most cherishable of issues on CD. For me the new medium is never more welcome than when, as here, it brings the blessing of a silent background to a favourite, much-used LP which has become difficult to enjoy as of old, thanks to clicks and plops. Though both Jacqueline du Pre and Dame Janet Baker were already well established and widely appreciated in 1965, this disc marked a turning point for both of them in their recording careers. With Barbirolli so warm-hearted and understanding an accompanist to each, these are both in every sense classic performances that can never be replaced.
Jacqueline du Pre's Elgar has been all the more appreciated, since her tragic illness has taken her away as a performer. In principle her espressivo may be too freely romantic, but the slow movement and epilogue remain supreme in their intensity, conveying in whispered pianissimos of daring delicacy an inner communion, while the bravura of the brilliant passages remains astonishing from an artist still only 20. Equally, the young Janet Baker translated the work into something greater than had been appreciated before. Until this recording, Sea Pictures had tended to be under-prized even among Elgarians; but the passion, intensity and sheer beauty of this performance with each of the five songs sharply distinct rebutted any idea that—in reflection of verse of varying quality—it had anything of sub-standard Elgar in it. This is now a work I cannot ever hear without also hearing in my mind Dame Janet's deeply individual phrasing on this record. This time what struck me more than anything was the central relevance to Dame Janet's whole career of the last stanza in ''Sabbath morning at sea'', a radiant climax. ''He shall assist me to look higher'' says the Barrett Browning poem, and the thrust of meaning as Dame Janet sings it invariably conveys a frisson such as you rarely get on record.
The CD transfer is valuable for clarifying the sound, but it adds little to the original LP. Initially I was disappointed that the sound in the Cello Concerto was not fuller and richer, but it exactly matches the LP sound, and the precise placing makes the soloist all the more vivid. The precision of CD makes more apparent the slight discrepancy between the sides, with Sea Pictures a degree fresher and fuller and with more bloom on the sound. The slight sibillant emphasis is not the fault of the transfer, but also comes on the LP. And whatever niceties of sound CD brings out, nothing can minimize the blessing of having such recordings on the new medium. '