Search Tool

1) Search in…

2) Search for…

Specified search details…

No search criteria specified

List content will go here

Search Tool

1) Search in…

2) Search for…

Specified search details…

No search criteria specified

List content will go here

Category: Reviews

  • And the Bridge is Love

    Gramophone April 2015

    Editor’s Choice

    Delius Two Aquarelles (arr. Fenby) Elgar Chanson de nuit, Op 15 No 1. Chanson de matin, Op 15 No 2 (both arr. WH Reed). Introduction and Allegro, Op 47. Serenade, Op 20. Sospiri, Op 70 Goodall ‘And the Bridge is Love’ Ireland A Downland Suite – No 3, Minuet W Lloyd Webber ‘The Moon’ Vaughan Williams The Charterhouse Suite – No 1, Prelude Walton Henry V – Passacaglia: Death of Falstaff; Touch her soft lips and part English Chamber Orchestra / Julian Lloyd Webber vc Naxos © 8573250 (70’. DDD)

    A neck injury may have forced Julian Lloyd Webber to retire from the concert platform as a soloist but this conspicuously accomplished programme demonstrates he also possesses a considerable talent for wielding the conductor’s baton. Howard Goodall’s poignantly elegiac And the Bridge is Love for solo cello, strings and harp (composed for the 2008 Chipping Campden Festival) gets top billing on the cover; needless to report, Lloyd Webber plays with total commitment in what was his final recording as a soloist – and the ECO is with him every step of the way. There are three more world premiere recordings: Elgar’s Chanson de nuit and Chanson de matin are heard in WH (‘Billy’) Reed’s wonderfully idiomatic transcriptions(and most disarmingly Lloyd Webber shapes them, too); and we also get a sweetly lyrical miniature, The Moon, by William Lloyd Webber (19 14-82).

    However, what really make this anthology worth investigating are the strikingly articulate, scrupulously prepared and consistently involving readings of the remaining British masterworks for string orchestra, for which Lloyd Webber displays a striking affinity. In his imaginative hands Elgar’s towering Introduction and Allegro has a big-hearted candour, contrapuntal clarity and bracing vigour that make you sit up and listen. Nor could anyone miss the very real sense of heartache and shuddering passion that inform Sospiri (where the harmonium contribution is most tastefully integrated within the luminously textured whole). The Serenade, too, comes off very well, Lloyd Webber procuring playing of unruffled poise, generous depth of feeling and alluring tonal lustre from the ECO. Elsewhere, Delius’s Two Aquarelles are essayed with exceptional perception (I was put in mind of Norman Del Mar’s incomparably poetic way with this music), while both Walton’s Henry V diptych and the delectable Minuet from Ireland’s A Downland Suite receive raptly communicative and ideally pliable treatment.

    Admirably produced by Andrew Keener, and with sound emanating from Watford Town Hall that is rich and glowingly realistic to match (take a bow, Mike Hatch), this enormously enjoyable Naxos anthology deserves every success, and I for one look forward to future releases under Julian Lloyd Webber’s personable lead.

    Andrew Achenbach

  • And the Bridge is Love

    BBC Music Magazine April 2015

    Elgar: Introduction and Allegro; Serenade for Strings; Sospiri; Chanson de nuit; Chanson de matin; plus works by Vaughan Williams, William Lloyd Webber, Delius, Goodall, Walton and Ireland

    English Chamber Orchestral

    Julian Lloyd Webber (cello)

    Noxos 8.573250 70:07 mins

    Julian Lloyd Webber made this recording some months before announcing his unwished-for retirement from cello playing, due to a long-standing injury. So might conducting be an area that could fruitfully open up for him instead? On the evidence of this release, one would very much hope so. The only works he features in here as a soloist are Howard Goodall’s And the Bridge is Love (composed in memory of a family friend who had tragically died young), and The Moon by his father, William Lloyd Webber. To judge from Lloyd Webber Jnr’s trademark tawny-brown, gloss-free finely sustained sound, there’s no audible sign of any falling-off of quality in this department.

    And as a conductor, he evidently has the ability to make a difference to collective performance-level (the English Chamber Orchestra plays characterfully and vividly at every point) while not getting in the music’s way — a combination of qualities nicely suited to this line-up of string works. Those by Elgar come across especially well (apart from Sospiri, here sounding a notch over-ripe). The Introduction and Allegro crackles along with crisp energy, with the four (uncredited) solo players delivering some lovely moments; and Lloyd Webber’s sureness of touch in the Serenade for Strings exactly captures the music’s unpretentious warmth.

    Malcolm Hayes

    PERFORMANCE

    (ELGARSERENADE) *****

    (THE REST) ****

    RECORDING ****

  • And the Bridge is Love

    Mail on Sunday 15th March 2015

    ALBUM OF THE WEEK

    On this winning album, Julian Lloyd Webber emerges as a conductor of some distinction, drawing eloquent performances from the English Chamber Orchestra of an enticing blend of familiar and unfamiliar English music for strings, including four world premieres.

    Touchingly, there is also Julian’s final appearance as a cellist, in a performance of Howard Goodall’s And The Bridge is Love, a moving elegy for the daughter of some close family friends, who died tragically young in 2007 aged only 17.

    Julian displays his conducting mettle with an excitingly propulsive account of Elgar’s Introduction And Allegro, a masterpiece that has rarely sounded better on disc.

    In more relaxed mood, he directs elegant performances of Elgar’s Serenade; his haunting Sospiri; and the Chansons De Matin and De Soir.

    There’s also a touching tribute to Julian’s father, William, in a piece dad LW wrote in 1950 entitLed The Moon, a work of real quality that more than justifies its inclusion here.

    And there’s a brief Vaughan Williams rarity: the opening movement of his Charterhouse Suite, originally for piano but arranged for strings in 1923 under the composer’s supervision.

    This is as lovely an album as I expect to hear this year, making a powerful case to put English string music up there among our nation’s greatest musical achievements.

    David Mellor

  • Andrew Lloyd Webber

    Turkish Daily News 27th June 2007

    Classic brilliance resonates in ancient walls

    Istanbul Concert Review

    Music gently winds through the corridors of the ancient Byzantine structure Hagia Eirini, at the concert, Festival Meetings II, performed by an acclaimed cellist, cello quartet and pianist

    As four cellists raise their bows in the air and strike the cellos strings with utmost grace, Bach’s Air in D Major gently resonates in a former Eastern Orthodox Church, Hagia Eirini Museum (Aya lrini) at the Topkapi Palace on Monday night. As the music gently whines through the corridors of the ancient Byzantine structure and rises to the atrium, a surreal musical journey begins in an enchanting setting of history and culture that creates the perfect atmosphere for music lovers of all ages. Festival Meetings II, featuring an acclaimed cellist, Julian Lloyd Webber, cello quartet çellistanbul and pianist Pam Chowhan is part of the 35th International Istanbul Music Festival. The festival is the latest creation of a creative musician and an ensemble of musicians whose passion for classical sound resonates from their soul. Istanbul’s own cello quartet ‘çeliistanbul’, started the audience on a journey of choral harmonies. Inspired by the city Istanbul and its magical atmosphere, the group is formed of cellists who graduated from the same Conservatoire of music their repertoire includes classical as well as modern works. “I am on a Long, Narrow Road” was a special composition for the quartet based on Asik Veysel’s melody that proved to the audience they were witnessing brilliant performers.

    Each cord was played in unison echoing the emotion of the music on the individual faces and swaying bodies 0r the cellists. The group was one entity playing off each other’s enthusiasm and passion. Their long composition was met with equal pleasure from the audience as each note created tension in the already thick church air. The last note in the composition is held in harmony. The audience holds its breath. Time stops. The note finishes. The stunned audience breaks the silence with loud cheers and applause.

    The group also known for their works of tango and jazz finish off their set with Tango Passionata and Polonaise. The second set welcomes Julian Lloyd Webber to the stage with Pam Chowham accompanying him on the piano. He too begins with Bach’s C Major Adagio followed by Scherzetto. At first the music did not flow together.

    There seemed to be tension as each performer kept looking for signs and warmth the two instruments should create. It was not until Scherzo Pizzicato that the union warmed up and put their bows aside; Webber played the cello with his fingers. Claude Debussy’s Sonata (1915) was long and stunning. Inspired with patriotic sentiments his music flowed with watery magic to dark virtuosity. It was multi-faceted brilliance that was written for the flute, piano and cello and it worked with Chowhan accompanying Webber on the piano. The night was not over yet, as ‘çellistanbul’ joined Webber on stage to perform the last three compositions. Beginning with Astor Piazzolla’s Oblivion, the groups performance highlights not only Webber’s amazing ability to take original scores and create a compelling rhythm, hut to depict character through music that shows his way of bringing life to his playing, It would not be a Webber production without performing one of his brothers most popular songs from the popular musical Jesus Christ Superstar, “I Don’t Know How to Love Him.” The audience was really alive and hoped there was more when the performance ended. The silence was extensive and finally broken with loud applause. The applause brought Webber and the ‘çellistanbul’ quartet back on stage to perform an encore of Astor Piazolla’s Oblivion. This time when the last cord was held, the audience knew once the sound reached the atrium, the performance was truly over. A standing ovation ended a magical myriad of classical ethereal sound that was performed brilliantly.

    Classic.net      2005

    Gramophone Magazine March 1987

    A. LLOYD WEBBER (arch. Cullen). Variations for cello and orchestra

    W. S. LLOYD WEBBER. Aurora-tone poem.

    * Julian Lloyd Webber (vc); London Philharmonic Orchestra /Lorin Maazel.

    Philips digital CD 420 342-1PH; 420 342-4PH; CD 420 342-2PH (45 minutes).

    To have produced a Webber/Webber/Webber record was a splendid idea, the very different skills of the three musicians of the family (so far) contrasting well, yet also integrating well: perhaps this, in very many circumstances, is the ideal family relationship.

    1. S. Lloyd Webber started it all: his Aurora is a gentle piece about the Roman Goddess of the Dawn, of Youth and of Beauty. With this background, faithfully reproduced, you could hardly miss; and in his charming piece (Chausson, perhaps Dukas, come to mind) William does indeed come nowhere near missing.
    Andrew’s Variations-on a theme of Paganini, the expected one – reflect a similar degree of skill; even so, there are few moments when Andrew’s music could be mistaken for William’s (though perhaps there are many which would have puzzled him). As the Variations are long (a side and a hall) they should be, and indeed are, very varied. Not often out-and-out pop in style (the first recording on MCA MCL18l6, 4/78-was scored for cello and six-piece rock band), yet equally not often out-and-out classical in style; instead there are cross-currents, with the scoring giving often unusual and piquant colour (David Cullen contributing excellently here) to music which does on occasion need this help (as most lengthy pieces do in places). It is easy to enjoy the music; when these variations were the ‘Dance’ half of Andrew’s Song and Dance show many thousands of theatre-goers did so, and many of today’s record buyers stand a good chance of doing the same. The solo cello contribution to the score – approaching that of a concerto soloist yet not quite that – is played splendidly by, of course, Julian (who ends by contributing a resonant bottom A, probably the lowest note on the cello ever recorded).

    Lovers of the unusual. of course, need no recommendation: this record is self-evidently for them. Collectors of versions of Paganini’s twenty-fourth Caprice (these versions are by now a large family) also need no recommendation. (As in the case of William, some of these variations would have puzzled Paganini; few would, I think, have angered him.) And, self-evidently, automatic admirers of everything Andrew does also need no recommendation. For listeners in none of these three categories: well, perhaps, caution might be advised.

    M.M.

  • Walton Passacaglia

    Fanfare June 1997

    BRITISH CELLO MUSIC, Volume I & II

    Julian Lloyd Webber’s performances of British music always carry the imprimatur of authority. and transmit a palpable sense of conviction that never fails to win new devotees to this area of the cello literature. I am especially happy, then, to welcome these splendid offerings back to the catalogs. Lloyd Webber is an artist of missionary enterprise, and his playing is underpinned by a technical assurance that vouchsafes his preeminence as the foremost living exponent of England’s cellistic oeuvre. As a result of his advocacy, works like those collected on these two ASV issues arc increasingly seen as being emblematic of a unique nationalistic subgenre. That these two CDs embrace between them no fewer than six world-premiere recordings bespeaks as much. But that the music is played with such understanding, affection, and profundity of utterance outstrips regular expectations.

    Britten’s Third Suite dates from the spring of 1971, and was premiered by Rostropovich (for whom the previous two Suites and the Cello Symphony were also written) in December 1974. The present performance, which dates from August 1979, is of special import, since it was in fact the first commercial recording of the piece, and it still holds its own in an increasingly competitive field. Julian Lloyd Webber’s account has both the pliant elasticity and the requisite expressive insights to make the most of its frisson and fantasy, but there is a deeper, darker, more elegiac core to this music. Britten’s implementation of the Kontakion, the Russian Orthodox hymn for the departed, is well documented, as is his decision to include an alternative version from English liturgy, and Julian Lloyd Webber plays the English Hymnal interpolation here. The Thema “Sacher,” an intriguing, unaccompanied cryptogram on the letters S-A-C-H-E-R, honored the conductor on the occasion of his seventieth birthday in 1976. A slight sixty-two seconds in duration, the current performance evidences Britten’s ingenuity in the genre, and the playing is magical. Alan Rawsthome’s cello sonata of 1949 (pithy, driven, sometimes truculent, but never crass), makes clever use of recurrent, cyclic themes as earlier motifs are revisited in the Finale: at the time of writing, no other recording exists, so a reading of this quality is the more welcome for its reappearance. The pianist here. and in the remaining accompanied works discussed here (in fact, there is only one other in the case of the first of these two discs, and that is a beguilingly enraptured account of John Ireland’s The Holy Boy) is the pianist and composer John McCabe, with whom Julian Lloyd Webber has enjoyed an especially fruitful collaboration.

    The remaining solo works here are by Sir Malcolm Arnold and Sir William Walton. The former’s 1987 Fantasy for solo cello is, in my view, a splendid addition to the repertoire. Cast in seven highly contrasted movements, its sophistication lurks behind an inscrutability that Hugo Cole describes as “Chinese economy of means.” It is an apt description, and Lloyd Webber’s account (still the only one in the catalog) focuses skillfully on the composer’s desire to draw out the naturalistic, rather than virtuosic, side of the instrument’s persona. The Walton Passacaglia is built along traditional lines (eight-measure theme and ten variations); it condenses Altonian severity and acerbity down to a solitary instrumental voice, and does so masterfully. This performance is mesmeric.

    The second release is devoted to fine readings from both artists of sonatas by Sir Charles Villiers Standford and John Ireland, and two characteristic miniatures by Frank Bridge. The Sonata in G Minor by John Ireland (1923) has been examined in these pages in context of the Marco Polo disc from Raphael Wallfisch and John York (Marco Polo 8.223718). Much as 1 found a lot to admire here (the program is a valuable one, also including the Edmund Rubbra sonata in G Minor, op. 60, and the superb A-Minor Sonata by E. J. Moeran). there remains, on comparison with this ASV version, a degree of blandness and discernible reluctance at times to probe much beyond the outer veneer of the notes. Hence, Julian Lloyd Webber’s playing has instantly more appeal and commu- nicative depth, and John McCabe’s management of the taxing piano part is a model of restraint? perhaps it takes a composer well versed in the ways of both instruments to make this music really work texturally? Of the Bridge pairing, Lloyd Webber relates in his insert note his happenstance discovery of the Scherzetto in a collection of manuscripts at the Royal College of Music, London. He gave the modern premiere of the piece, seventy-seven years after its composition, in April 1976; this slight but delicious encore piece is an ideal foil to the somber mood of the preceding Elegy, dating from 1905. Both performances arc admirable. The other large-scale work is the majestic and uncommonly Brahmsian Second Sonata (op. 93?1893) by Stanford. This work, as deserving of a niche in the repertoire as the similarly neglected Elegiac Variations by Sir Donald Francis Tovey (played quite decently by Rebecca Rust and David Aptcr on Marco Polo 8.223637), receives a robust and impassioned performance here. and. like several of the works contained on these ASV issues, is otherwise unavailable. To sum up. Julian Lloyd Webber’s striking and compelling performances arc of consistent excellence, and recorded sound is likewise entirely serviceable. My only gripe is that the labels with which he is associated, ASV and Philips, have yet to recognize both the musical significance and commercial viability of this area of the cello literature. If they were to relent, however, they would find no better artist for the task than Julian Lloyd Webber, whose performances may be unreservedly commended.

    Michael Jameson

  • Walton Cello Concerto

    Liverpool Echo 13th January 1992

    WILLIAM LEECE: Philharmonic Hall

    REGULAR Phil-goers must reckon they know Elgar’s Enigma Variations so well that nothing in the work can surprise them any longer. But it’ s always nice to be proved wrong and a packed Philharmonic cheered Libor Pesek to the rafters after he conducted Elgar’s old reliable for the first time on Saturday night.

    I doubt if anyone In Liverpool had heard the piece played quite so expansively before. Pesek took a brazenly romantic approach from the very first notes, wringing every drop out of the music and encouraging the RLPO to give it everything they had. Above all it worked in the Nimrod variation, with the music slowed right down and the tension and emotion almost unbearable. Pesek has never been afraid to take risks: sometimes he comes unstuck, but more often living dangerously is the way to succeed as the Elgar showed.

    In fact the whole of Saturday’s all-English concert was a calculated risk, as Posek was tackling every single work on the programmed for the first time. On top of that, cellist Julian Lloyd-Webber was playing Sir William Walton’s Cello Concerto for only the second time in his career – not that it showed for one moment.

    Lloyd-Webber obviously adores the piece, so affectionate and fluent was his performance. But despite his musical eloquence, I remain unconvinced that here is a neglected masterpiece waiting to be taken up by cellists across the world.

    At the beginning of the evening came a shimmering account of Sir Michael Tippett’s Fantasia Concertante of a Theme of Corelli which will undoubtedly sounds even better after the orchestra has played it a couple of times on its Canary island tour later this month.

  • Walton Cello Concerto

    Liverpool Daily Post 13th January 1992

    Pesek’s show of musical loyalty

    RLPO/Pesek/Lloyd Webber

    PHILHARMONIC HALL

    Review by Rex Bawden

    LlBOR Pesek, appointed to Liverpool in 1987, declared at the time his determination to explore a comprehensive range of British music. But even his most fervent admirers may not have expected such wholehearted allegiance as Saturday’s programme provided, He has always relished a challenge, and Tippett’s Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli, followed by Walton’s Cello Concerto and Elgar’s Enigma Variations, was undeniably a tough assignment.

    Walton’s Cello Concerto has never been as popular as his two for violin and viola possibly because the strange sequence of variations in the finale never quite seems to work. Despite this, Julian Lloyd Webbber’s masterful interpretation of the solo part must have gone a long way towards convincing the doubters.

    Orchestral support was sensitively characterised, with the rapport between conductor and solo¬ist adding to a satisfying performance. Unfortunately, the same could not be said of the Corelli Fantasia, for although Tippett has never actually specified the number of players required, experience suggests that a chamber-sized ensemble is preferable.

    Tackling this texturally complex babaroque-type piece with a full string complement including eight double basses, obscured essential detail, caused some ragged edges and often submerged the three orchestral soloists.

    While, the days are long past when Elgar should be regarded as the preserve of British conduc¬tors, Pesek’s readlngwas often unacceptably over-romanticised. A dangerously slow introduction set the pattern and Nimrod lacked its essential nobility. Elgar’s vignettes came off better.

    All these works will be repeated in Las Palmas and at Tenerife during the orchestra’s tour of the Canary Islands later this month.

  • Walton Cello Concerto

    Classics Today December 2004

    The coupling is a logical one: the cello concertos of Elgar and Walton, played by British cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, an empathetic artist with a special affinity for English cello literature. Lloyd Webber’s recording of Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor was made in July 1985, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yehudi Menuhin. It is a deeply-felt performance, imbued with a touching degree of modesty, placing it among this artist’s finest documents on CD. Lloyd Webber’s plangent tone and unhurried approach fully engages the nobility and the valedictory content of the work in equal degree. Particularly moving is the Adagio, notable for its restraint and for much exceptionally beautiful quiet playing. Frequently compared with the classic 1965 EMI recording by Jacqueline Du Pré with the London Symphony Orchestra under Barbirolli, Lloyd Webber’s account is no less powerfully eloquent.

    Curiously however, when this performance first appeared, it was paired with Menuhin’s recording of Elgar’s Enigma Variations, generally a splendid account, now supplanted by Lloyd Webber’s 1996 performance (with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Neville Marriner) of the Cello Concerto by William Walton. That’s not to say that Lloyd Webber’s Walton is any less convincing nor impressive than his Elgar, but simply that the earlier Philips Digital Classics package had seemed well worth preserving. This reading of the Walton concerto, however, has been beautifully recorded. The meticulously balanced production allows the complex inner fabric of Walton’s score to be laid clearly before the listener, and Lloyd Webber understands its underlying luxuriance, debating its opulence and expressive warmth to good effect. Compared with Lyn Harrell’s EMI version with Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony, the Lloyd Webber/Marriner collaboration is more deeply considered and more faithful to the letter of the score, and the slightly smaller orchestral resources employed help the soloist to prove convincingly that in expressive terms, less is often more. Another worthy inclusion in the Phillips 50 series, but the original coupling of Elgar’s concerto and Variations seemed more or less complete in itself, so why change it?

    Michael Jameson

  • Walton Cello Concerto: Penguin Guide to CDs 1999

    Though Walton’s Cello concerto, written for Piatigorsky, and Britten’s tough and gritty Cello Symphony, written for Rostropovich, are strongly contrasted in mood and style, Julian Lloyd Webber in a unique coupling, passionately performed, draws fascinating parallels. Helped by sumptuous recording, his reading of the Walton firmly establishes this as a worthy counterpart to Walton’s two pre-war concerto masterpieces for Viola and violin, bringing out the beauty as well as the romantic warmth, helped by fine playing from Marriner and the Academy.

  • Walton Cello Concerto: Diapason

    Symphonie concert ante pour violoncelle et orchestre.

    WALTON: Concerto pour violoncelle

    Julian Lloyd Webber (violoncelle),

    Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner. Philips 454 442-2 (CD: 168 F). 01996. TT: 1 h 06’35”.

    TECHNIQUE: 8,5 – Grande image orchestra Ie bien construite. Bonne definition. Dynamique imporrante.

    Deux chefs-d’ceuvre qui n’ont en commun que d’avoir ete concus pour de grands violoncellistes russes: le Concerto de Walton pour Gregor Piatigorsky et la Symphonie de Britten pour Mstislav Rostropovitch. Aussi dissemblables que le jour et la nuit, ils exigent’du soliste des qualites tres differentes, et cela n’est pas l’un des moindres merites de Julian Lloyd Webber que de repondre avec une egale ferveur au romantisme chaleureux de Walton comme aux tragiques ruminations de Britten.

    Equivoque et élusive, la Symphonie de ce dernier concilie l’univers féerique du Songe avec l’atmosphère tragique du War Requiem. Son langage fragmenté et pointilliste, sa matière torturée et fuyante en font l’une des pages les plus difficiles d’accès de son auteur. Le violoncelle doit ici concilier des exigences digitales vertigineuses avec une sobriété presque désincarnée, cultivant un rimbre neutre ou une acidité presque grinçante, alternant ici et là avec un lyrisme âpre davantage enclin à la violence qu’à l’effusion. La remarquable intériorité de Julian Lloyd Webber remplit admirablement le contrat: on admirera les tournoiements vertigineux et fantomatiques du Scherzo, puis l’onirisme conféré à l’ineffable dialogue entre le violoncelle, le cor et le basson dans la Passacaille finale.

    Production d’un été indien vouée aux délices d’Ischia, née de la contemplation de la nature et du ciel méditerranéen, le Concerto de Walton offre au contraire au soliste l’occasion de déployer tout le luxe de sa riche palette sonore. Assurément il se retrouve ici en pays de connaissance: il nous avait donné naguère un mémorable Concerto de Delius, et c’est bien aux charmes d’un « jardin du Paradis» que s’abandonne lui aussi avec une grâce nonchalante et sensuelle ce capiteux poème de la Nature. Et c’est bien au rythme de la baguette d’un magicien que semblent s’égoutter, pour l’épilogue, les ruissellements sonores de la harpe, du célesta et du xylophone, éveillant le soliste pour une dernière extase, illuminée du ravissement, de la langueur et de la béatitude des rêves à demi-éveillés.

    MICHEL FLEURY