Mark Elder

Mark Elder

Ever since I heard the enigmatic Conductor Mark Elder live with the HKPO (review here), I have become a die-hard fan and read everything I could find on the internet about him. The quintessential English gentleman with a patrician manner and a "Masterpiece Theater" voice, Elder has an understated charm in person and on record you can hear him recite poems (splendidly) relevant to the music works and play the piano beautifully in an Elgar song! His interviews on the net make an excellent read; I particularly like the one where he talks about his London house. Apparently, the Halle did the complete Shostakovich cycle and he had a real liking to the composer. No wonder his concert in HK was so accomplished. You can read about his feelings about Shostakovich.

But it's his superb musicianship that's the focus here.




Mark Elder on Record

I have not really listened to too many Elder CDs, which covers a hugh range. A good idea can be had on the cduniverse site. Elder is really not a household name, not even in the UK. Hoi said to me after his concert: "How come is not as famous as Simon Rattle?" Good question, I'd love to know the answer. From this discography you can see he is an experienced opera conductor and many records have him in supporting role.

It is with the Halle Orchestra's own CD label that you shall find Elder in greatest substance. Those not familiar with the Halle Orchstra should note that it was the orchestra of none other than the great John Babirolli, and if you like English music you likely know them.

I find the cover art of the CDs to prefectly reflect Mark Elder's style: Under-stated, clean, in-control, but with a sunstantial, colorful element. It is my fortune that some of these CDs, hard to find in HK, are available from the library! Over the holidays I listened to 4 of them and came away with heightened admiration for the man, and the orchestra.

I am a big Elgar fan and Elder is a noted Elgar specialist (they share the same birthday) and the 3 Elgar CDs I heard were all wonderful in content, performance and, most importantly, in superlative sound. Elder's Elgar is not overtly "emotional", nor "sensuous", but it is structurally sound and revealing of a myriad of fine emotions, all patiently built-up. For me this means the second symphony is the greater achievement. But the greatest surprise was the Enigma Variations, a work I never really dug. I have to say Elder's version finally conveyed the emotion behind each episode, and I like his version even more than those by Babirolli and Monteux, and that's remarkable! The discs also contain interesting small works as well as very very exciting accounts of the masterpieces In the South and Cockaigne Overture. Finally, there is an excellent account of the Nielsen 5th. Throughout, the playing of the Halle is first-class.

There are a few amazing things that should be noted. First, the sound Elder gets from the Halle is not that different from what he got from the HKPO! It is a very clean sound with a feeling of a very silent background, or shall we say repose and concentration? With lesser conductors, you always feel an impatient edge, some kind of nervousness extraneous to the music, not with Elder. And the way he builds a crescendo is just the way it should be, patiently, a moment-by-moment increase that conveys power and grandeur. Lesser conductors' crescendoes sound impatient, a sort of "premature ejaculation", or at least "much ado about nothing" (you can guess one of the conductors I am referring to here). Elder's recordings has the power of making me go back and see if I get more out of it a second time, and I did.