Elgar: Cello Concerto / Salut d'Amour [Sir!]

This album is titled “Sir!” because it is dedicated to the famous concerto for cello and orchestra by the English composer Sir Edward Elgar. But also because Astrig Siranossian plays the cello of Sir John Barbirolli, a magnificent instrument by Gennaro Gagliano from 1756, which was lent to her by the Henrot Fund to support young French talents in the field of chamber music. Barbirolli was a passionate advocate of Elgar’s music, but also that of Bruch, whose “Kol Nidrei” Astrig has recorded – “one of the most beautiful works ever written for the cello,” says the cellist, who is accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra under the direction of François-Xavier Roth. Also on the program, this time with her friend Nathanaël Gouin at the piano, is the sonata by Benjamin Britten, who rejected the title “Sir,” but was at least a Lord…