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 Leaf. It’s good to hear this sparse, distinctive piece, even if the close recording makes it seem Isserlis is breathing in your ear.

The Guardian