For over a half century, Lynn Harrell has been revered as one of the world’s most brilliant and beloved cellists of all time.

Once in a generation a cellist makes an irrefutable claim to the Elgar Concerto. For years the piece belonged to Paul Tortelier (onetime Boston Symphony Orchestra principal cellist); the charismatic and tragic Jacqueline DuPre made it her own. And last night Lynn Harrell took possession of the piece and won both the audience’s undivided attention and a standing ovation that recalled him to the stage four times.

Harrell responds both to the famous elegiac element in Elgar and to the robust, sinewy and ruddy-cheeked side, both aspects joined on a long, singing through-line. From the opening gesture, Harrell embraced us and didn’t put us down, gently but with a flourish, until the end. His playing was bold, imaginative, and surpassingly sensitive…fully human and rich in detail

– BOSTON GLOBE