Elgar's Hillside

[71 dB]

I don't know how many times Barbirolli recorded Enigma Variations.
I have a 1963 recording in my EMI 30 CD Elgar boxset.
I'll revisit that.
Some Elgar could do good for me...  0:)

[Karl Henning]

Maybe this one Karl?
Another famous and highly regarded recording:

On my CD the other major work is the Cello Concerto, with IIRC André Navarra.

[71 dB]

On my CD the other major work is the Cello Concerto, with IIRC André Navarra.

So, you have this:

[asin]B000002S2G[/asin]
"All of the performances are from the late 50s. With the exception of the MONO Cello Concerto, the remainder of the program is in very early stereo." -Thomas Martin

[Karl Henning]

So, you have this:

[asin]B000002S2G[/asin]
"All of the performances are from the late 50s. With the exception of the MONO Cello Concerto, the remainder of the program is in very early stereo." -Thomas Martin

It was one of my first CDs, and it is a beauty.

[Karl Henning]

On Saturday at 8PM Chowder Time, WCRB rebroadcasts a BSO concert including the Elgar Cello Concerto:  https://www.classicalwcrb.org/#stream/0

[vers la flamme]

Best recording of Elgar's symphonies? I have Barenboim/London Philharmonic for the 1st symphony and I remain unconvinced. I'm not sure why but I don't seem to find Barenboim idiomatic in this kind of repertoire.

[Biffo]

Best recording of Elgar's symphonies? I have Barenboim/London Philharmonic for the 1st symphony and I remain unconvinced. I'm not sure why but I don't seem to find Barenboim idiomatic in this kind of repertoire.

I haven't heard Barenboim's LPO recording but when his (fairly) recent Berlin performances were released I tried them both and didn't like them; many people did. There is a Barenboim performance of Gerontius in the Berlin Philharmonic Digital Concert Hall and it is excellent, better than the one released on CD (with a different Berlin orchestra).

For the symphonies my heart goes with Barbirolli but my head says Boult (Lyrita or EMI). I don't like the widely admired Solti recordings (Decca).

[71 dB]

Best recording of Elgar's symphonies? I have Barenboim/London Philharmonic for the 1st symphony and I remain unconvinced. I'm not sure why but I don't seem to find Barenboim idiomatic in this kind of repertoire.

I don't think there is a consensus about this.

[vers la flamme]

I haven't heard Barenboim's LPO recording but when his (fairly) recent Berlin performances were released I tried them both and didn't like them; many people did. There is a Barenboim performance of Gerontius in the Berlin Philharmonic Digital Concert Hall and it is excellent, better than the one released on CD (with a different Berlin orchestra).

For the symphonies my heart goes with Barbirolli but my head says Boult (Lyrita or EMI). I don't like the widely admired Solti recordings (Decca).

Solti doesn't strike me as someone who would be convincing as an Elgarian. Barbirolli and Boult both sound promising. Thanks.

[amw]

I haven't heard Barenboim's LPO recording but when his (fairly) recent Berlin performances were released I tried them both and didn't like them; many people did. There is a Barenboim performance of Gerontius in the Berlin Philharmonic Digital Concert Hall and it is excellent, better than the one released on CD (with a different Berlin orchestra).

For the symphonies my heart goes with Barbirolli but my head says Boult (Lyrita or EMI). I don't like the widely admired Solti recordings (Decca).

Curiously I've heard nothing but negativity about the Solti recordings online for a long time, which eventually made me curious enough to hear them (I like them). I suppose they must have been well regarded at some point though given the number of reissues and compilations they ended up in.

[Biffo]

Curiously I've heard nothing but negativity about the Solti recordings online for a long time, which eventually made me curious enough to hear them (I like them). I suppose they must have been well regarded at some point though given the number of reissues and compilations they ended up in.

I remember they got very good reviews when they were first issued and many people still like them (judging by the comments in various forums) but I don't. I don't want pre-judge them for you so I will say no more.

There seems to be quite a few people who seem to automatically dislike anything by Solti, I am not one of them and have numerous of his recordings.

[Irons]

I read somewhere that Solti scrupulously followed EE tempo markings.

[Sergeant Rock]

Best recording of Elgar's symphonies?

For the symphonies my heart goes with Barbirolli but my head says Boult (Lyrita or EMI). I don't like the widely admired Solti recordings (Decca).

La Flamme, you can't go wrong with Biffo's suggestion of the two Bs. I do like Solti's Elgar, though, especially the Violin Concerto with Kyung Wha Chung. That combination brings out both the masculine and feminine sides of the music to great effect. My own favorites of the symphonies are Previn and Boult in the 1st and Sinopoli and Tate in the 2nd (but you'd need to appreciate broad tempi).

Sarge

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I remember they got very good reviews when they were first issued and many people still like them (judging by the comments in various forums) but I don't. I don't want pre-judge them for you so I will say no more.

There seems to be quite a few people who seem to automatically dislike anything by Solti, I am not one of them and have numerous of his recordings.

I certainly like them, but that's probably because I don't like Elgar that wallows or meanders. Solti applies the firm hand of discipline to this music. Otherwise Boult seems a safe choice. Previn's #1 is really good too.

[Biffo]

I read somewhere that Solti scrupulously followed EE tempo markings.

Solti is pretty close to Elgar's 1930 timings in Symphony No 1 but then so is Boult; Solti and Boult are nearly identical in No 2 and roughly 3 mins overall slower than Elgar. In the case of Solti most of that difference is in one movement, the Larghetto - Elgar 12'57, Boult 13'17 and Solti 15'30.

[71 dB]

I certainly like them, but that's probably because I don't like Elgar that wallows or meanders. Solti applies the firm hand of discipline to this music. Otherwise Boult seems a safe choice. Previn's #1 is really good too.

Verbs "wallow" or "meander" aren't those I'd use about badly performed Elgar, but then again I am an Elgarian.  To me well performed Elgar gets the complex multidimensionality of the music right and a bad performance doesn't and is "tangled." My first introduction to Elgar's symphonies in 1997 were Hurst and Downes on Naxos and I still think those are solid performances that get Elgar right. Not saying these are the absolute best you can have, but at least good and since I heard them first they are the "reference" performances to me. I also like Boult's Elgar a lot. I think that man really understood Elgar, but his recordings don't offer "digital clarity". Elder is pretty good too.

The surprising thing is there's tons of performances of the symphonies I have not heard. 

[Karl Henning]

Had anyone heard the Bryden Thomson? Some years ago a friend spoke of them as his preference.

[amw]

I remember they got very good reviews when they were first issued and many people still like them (judging by the comments in various forums) but I don't. I don't want pre-judge them for you so I will say no more

I have already heard them and enjoy them.

I think part of it is this forum and another one I frequent both have large populations of people who love Barbirolli and hate Solti (and I've never personally got on with Barbirolli either) which can drown out the received critical opinion tending to be the opposite.

As far as the symphonies go, I also like Mackerras and Hickox.

[Mirror Image]

Had anyone heard the Bryden Thomson? Some years ago a friend spoke of them as his preference.

If only Elgarian was still amongst us...

[aukhawk]

Curiously I've heard nothing but negativity about the Solti recordings online for a long time, which eventually made me curious enough to hear them (I like them). I suppose they must have been well regarded at some point though given the number of reissues and compilations they ended up in.

They are rosetted in my elderly copy of the Penguin Guide.  I like them but I find the CD transfers to be a bit harsh on the ears, a common problem with digitised Decca recordings from that sort of era.  This twofer:



I had the vinyl of Symphony 1 which sounded just fine:



All that said, I would generally turn to Boult's EMI recordings for the Symphonies, Barenboim/Zukerman for the Violin Concerto, Silvestri for In The South.