BBCSSO / Runnicles Elgar 1: 10/10!

[Nick Armstrong]

As I hit the M1 on a longish drive north yesterday afternoon, the above began on the car radio. What a superlative performance ! Insofar as the car radio and road noise (I had it on pretty loud) allowed me to judge, it was brilliantly played and beautifully paced. Cracking stuff.

Sadly, later in the programme, the Four Last Songs were marred by a singer whose vibrato made it sound as if she were trilling each note A coffee stop made me miss the start of Elgar 2 which concluded the concert, but the second half sounded very successful too.

I advise all Elgar fanciers to catch No 1 and post reactions here

EDIT: Apologies for ineptly typed heading: should of course be BBCSSO !! Can someone change it? We can't edit headings, I find!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I heard this concert on the radio too. I agree about the Four Last Songs. Sadly, there are very few performances I have heard of this work that are truly satisfactory. One live broadcast by a young Kiri Te Kanawa made me fall in love with this work, but most sopranos just don't know when to stop wobbling.

Lucia Popp for me, every time.

[EdgeleyRob]

I advise all Elgar fanciers to catch No 1 and post reactions here

I listened on i player last night. Both Elgar symphonies were beautifully played (to my non expert but Elgar loving ear at any rate)

[longinus]

I agree. I know Elgar's 1st is often criticised for being imitative of Brahms's 3rd, but I strongly feel that it knocks its original into a cocked hat. I thought the performance was exceptional. Does anyone else hear the coda of the last movement as the best embodiment in music of physical ecstasy?

[Nick Armstrong]

I agree. I know Elgar's 1st is often criticised for being imitative of Brahms's 3rd, but I strongly feel that it knocks its original into a cocked hat. I thought the performance was exceptional. Does anyone else hear the coda of the last movement as the best embodiment in music of physical ecstasy?

It hadn't occurred to me, no...

But it is very special. I compared a number of performances which I own, with specific reference to the final pages a while back, I seem to remember George Hurst / BBC Phil and Colin Davis / Dresden came out tops.

The Runnicles / BBCSSO I would love to have on a CD: come on, Auntie Beeb !

[longinus]

The Hurst won Building a Library, but I think its main virtue was cheapness. It's sound but not inspired.

[Nick Armstrong]

The Hurst won Building a Library, but I think its main virtue was cheapness. It's sound but not inspired.

I tend to agree but he gets the end dead right. I now swear by the Boult / LPO performances on Lyrita, which I hadn't heard when I did my home comparison. Talk about inspired

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

1957 Halle/Barbirolli for me. The recorded sound is quite aggressive, but Michael Dutton's transfer brings out the best. As a performance, it has everything.

[amateur51]

I tend to agree but he gets the end dead right. I now swear by the Boult / LPO performances on Lyrita, which I hadn't heard when I did my home comparison. Talk about inspired

I've yet to listen to these performances but will certainly do so on your recommendation, Caliban

Speaking of Boult, do you know his 'live' Elgar symphony no 1 from the Proms in the mid-1970s? It's a magnificent performance and was available as a BBCMM cover CD I think and on a Proms celebratory double CD - certainly worth looking out for. I've also greatly enjoyed Sir Colin Davis' 'live' performance from the Albert Hall ( a concert for Oxfam, not a Proms) which is coupled with Munch's wonderfully strange 'Introduction & Allegro for Strings'. It's on RCA. Treats all round

[Pabmusic]

I now swear by the Boult / LPO performances on Lyrita... Talk about inspired

Apparently the producer insisted on a conventional 'modern' seating plan for the sessions (all violins on the left). Boult was angry - noticeably so - throughout, and wrote to the Gramophone afterwards to complain about it. Maybe this gave an extra edge to the performances, since they're wonderful.