Bernstein - Elgar "Enigma" variations (IX) - (Nimrod) : Adagio

[tennotes]

Bernstein could get more out of ONE note than any other conductor in my memory. This is as dramatic as music gets and Bernstein is the reason for it. After the first measure, you forget the tempo, because you are already steeped in the depth and richness of the piece.

[scabycat]

I can absolutely guarantee you that the best Nimrod you will EVER hear is by Sir Adrian Boult in the 1963? recording with the London Philharmonic. I have about 20 different recordings by various conductors and orchestras and have studied literally dozens more. I promise you there is NO ONE , I repeat NO ONE who can bring Nimrod to the climax that Boult achieves with the LPO. Pierre Monteaux is a good runner up but Boult is absolute King of this piece!!

[scabycat]

@scabycat I would just add that Boult also recorded the same piece with the LSO and is available on utube- NOT AS GOOD !!! The LPO seems much warmer and fuller and more powerful. The LSO recording is very " shrill" - accoustics perhaps?

[Denabobina1]

I would have loved to watch his technique on a video. I wonder if one exists.

[gh2106090]

The best.

[NMC21887]

As a musician, I don't mind different interpretations of one piece. It's like when you're looking at a sculpture and another person is looking at the same thing in a different place...

[rmrgm521m]

Achingly gorgeous - damn the well-known controversy over the tempo!

[japanesesweet]

you'd be hard pressed to identify the 3/4 rhythm at this speed but it works wonderfully on its owm terms. The orchestra were famously resistant to Bernstein's view but you wouldn't guess it from this performance.

[sofialiao]

I like London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Colin Davis's

version better, more dedicated and more like the whole

[JoeDaPokemonMasta1]

Nearly moved me to tears...

What an incredible piece...

[mihaelacarmen100]

ez az a zene ami a szivhez szól ,én úgy érzem ha ezt halgatom hogy béke van kőrűlőttem és hogy minden rendben van

[DPUO]

Simply the finest rendition of this, the world's most incomparably moving piece of music, by any conductor, living or dead.

[RevTwoSheds]

yes

[Mi6sy]

I agree... I much prefer Nimrod played slowly. I LOVE the version of it on the Elizabeth soundtrack. Gives me goosebumps!  M

[163magnus]

@Mi6sy just a shame that the timeline got completely screwed!!!!! Elagar wasn't around for another 100 years or so!!!!

[osmanier88]

Mostly I don't like Bernsteins choice of the tempo, but this is simply PERFECT. No version on Youtube matches this one!

[sheelein]

the best tempo ever!!

[atwillrules]

this is music ids about friendship and love....when i think about my friends and all they mean to me..this is the kind of music i hear ...truly noble and true..it might be too slow...i dont know...but its so right emotionally..God bless Elgar and"Lenny"

[michaels7]

It is not like Bernstein, an american jew, was not aware of the culture of a catholic writing this music in an orange culture. Bernstein marries a catholic and wrote a Mass. He identified with Elgar as an outsider. I love this version. It is slow but it works.

[icgriffin]

This recording is controversial and in my opinion way OTT. Surely the greatest of all Nimrods has to be Sir Adrian Boult with the LPO. The climax boult brings this music to is truly on an epic scale. It is emotionaly exhausting. No musician could go on to play the following movement without a short break. I have studied many many different recordings and believe me Boult is king of this piece.

[jamaissanlasic]

Bernstein oui le meilleur et cette interprétation pleine de sensibilité rien de mieux jusqu'à présent

[kipstir]

absolutely love it.

[willsbarry1]

Watched and heard this on TV many years ago, and it makes the air crackle- electrifying!

[DJWOLFEN01]

Stunning. He took all the war and nationalism out of it - a byproduct that Elgar never intended.

[cdyel]

@DJWOLFEN01

I completely agree. I wasn't sure about this interpretation at first. Then I read your comment and then I realized how people have changed the meaning of the song while they listen to it on Remembrance Day. The change in tempo seemed to have brought me back to the original meaning that Elgar intended. Thanks.

I'm currently interning at a high school and I'm conducting this on their concert so I'm glad I've got some information to share w/ the students.

[OzzyKingofKings]

I get the feeling that in lesser hands such a slow tempo would result in complete collapse. But Bernstein has unquestionably done something transcendent here.

[davecoleman12]

Bernstein had the guts to play this piece as slow as this and get away with it!!..It really brings the serenity and beauty out of the piece..most conductors play it way too fast!!...

[MrJcorona89]

Wow, how powerful. Though this is one of the most controversial interpretations of Elgar's "Nimrod", in my opinion it is one of the best. It is so emotional and graceful, truly a great interpretation. Bernstein was a genius. Thank you for posting this video.

[rabengeraun]

@MrJcorona89 I agree entirely. Just because he doesn't adhere to the snotty-nosed English way of playing this music lots of people think it's invalid. Bernstein was a genius.

[elgarnimrod68]

Gracias por bajarlo. Cuando escuche esta version tan pausada, quede prendado por su tempo, nada que ver con el resto de versiones, que parecen una marcha militar...