Steven Isserlis made a fine, fierce recording of the Elgar Cello Concerto with the LSO 18 years ago; this new version, with the Philharmonia and conductor Paavo Järvi, is fiercer still – older, wiser and even more convincing. Isserlis’s cello rages against the dying of the light, sounding angry yet still beautiful, and under Järvi the orchestra is full-bodied but focused. The slow movement is impatient and impassioned, and when this music returns towards the very end it leaves a terrible unanswered question hanging. Holst’s little-known Invocation – the composer in romantic yet beatific mode – lightens things before an eloquent, mercurial performance of the Walton Concerto from Isserlis, with the orchestra offering colourful support. Finally, there is Imogen Holst’s solo cello variations on the three-centuries-old melody The Fall of the Leafe. It’s good to hear this sparse, distinctive piece, even if the close recording makes it seem Isserlis is breathing in your ear.
