I feel impossibly churlish to criticize what I’m sure must have been an unforgettable experience for all involved, but to my ears the main work – at 54 minutes a very grand conception indeed – is scuppered by the unduly sedate tempo for the main first movement Allegro (whereafter tensions sag disconcertingly). There’s plenty of enthusiasm and commitment on show, of course, but overall it’s not an Elgar performance on quite the same level of perception as, say, Christopher Seaman’s 1988 Falstaff with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. Aided by exemplary support, Michael Thompson gives a predictably brilliant reading of the striking Concerto Thea Musgrave wrote for Barry Tuckwell in 1970-71.'