Five Essential Elgar Recordings - your five?

[Barbirollians]

Kate Kennedy chose the following five this morning . She seems to like her Elgar " restrained" as she described it . Of the extracts played:

1 Cello Concerto - Isserlis/Philharmonia/Jarvi ( to my ears lovely playing from Isserlis -accompaniment a bit dull)

2 Symphony No 1 - BBCSO/Gardner ( I liked it a lot but it seemed very Boultian to me rather than ground breaking)

3 Salut d'Amour ( Little/Davis ) KK seemed to be a very big fan of the Little/Davis recording of the VC too - which to me is an estimable reading but as Alison I think said on here - a sort of kitchen second stereo sort of recording)- I must admit I found this reading of Salut d Amour a bit sickly sweet.

4 Dream of Gerontius- Sarah Connolly/Stuart Skelton - Andrew Davis . ( Didn't like this much - but then again I don't really like Gerontius all that much . The tenor was rather operatic. Sarah Connolly was splendid though .

5 Introduction and Allegro for Strings - ECO/Britten ( it is very good but I have never felt it matched the Sinfonia of London/Barbirolli )

My five would be way more traditional I imagine and most certainly would not include Salut D Amour or Gerontius .


1 Cello Concerto - Du Pre/Lso/Barbirolli

2 Violin Concerto Menuhin/LSO/Elgar

3 Symphony No1 BBCSO/Boult - 1976 live Proms recording

4 Symphony No 2 - the incorrigibly slow first movement notwithstanding - the 1964 Barbirolli recording

5 In The South -BSO/Silvestri

What would be yours?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

1) Violin Concerto, Menuhin/LSO/Elgar
2) Symphony #2. LPO/Solti
3) Dream of Gerontius; Baker, Lewis, Borg/Hallé/Barbirolli
4) Symphony #1, Hallé/Barbirolli (the Live from Kings Lynn recording)
5) Enigmas, RPO/Del Mar

[Barbirollians]

Aargh - I left out Enigma - In which case substitute the LSO/Boult 1970 recording for the In the South.

I came very close to choosing that live Barbirolli too .

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Aargh - I left out Enigma - In which case substitute the LSO/Boult 1970 recording for the In the South.
I came very close to choosing that live Barbirolli too .

I nearly omitted the Enigmas in order to add the Boult/BBCSO Second Symphony from the '40s - two Second Symphonies or one and an Enigma: tricky!

[Roslynmuse]

Britten's recording of Gerontius.
Boult's last studio recording of Symphony No 2 (it was my introduction to the piece and is very dear to me).
Monteux's Enigma Variations.
Robert Cohen's Cello Concerto.
Elder's Apostles.

I could easily come up with a second five, and possibly a third.

[Petrushka]

Symphony No 1 LPO/Solti
Symphony No 2 Staatskapelle Berlin/Barenboim
Violin Concerto Perlman/Chicago SO/Barenboim
Dream of Gerontius Halle Orch/Barbirolli
Cockaigne Overture Philharmonia/Barbirolli

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Enigma - Philharmonia/Barbirolli
Symphony 1 - Halle/Barbirolli 1957
The Apostles - Elder
The Kingdom - Boult
Cello Concerto - Du Pre/Barbirolli

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I could easily come up with a second five, and possibly a third.

Oh, yes - but in my case, there'd be several versions of the same five works. Probably an extra one for the String Orchestra works and Cockaigne, another of some of the miniatures ... perhaps the chamber works, and maybe even a coupling of Barbirolli's Falstaff and the 'cello Concerto (with Navarra) ... but only "perhaps". I'd hate never to hear the five works I first mentioned ... but wouldn't deeply miss many of the others.

[Keraulophone]

The Kingdom - LPO/Boult
Enigma - RPO/del Mar
Symphony 2 - BBCSO/Boult (1940s)
Symphony 1 - BBCSO/Boult (Proms 1976)
The Music Makers - LPO/Baker/Boult

[but, O dear... Piano Quintet, Into & Allegro, VC, Organ Sonata (orch. Jacob), O hearken Thou...]

[Roslynmuse]

Oh, yes - but in my case, there'd be several versions of the same five works. Probably an extra one for the String Orchestra works and Cockaigne, another of some of the miniatures ... perhaps the chamber works, and maybe even a coupling of Barbirolli's Falstaff and the 'cello Concerto (with Navarra) ... but only "perhaps". I'd hate never to hear the five works I first mentioned ... but wouldn't deeply miss many of the others.

I think I would miss certain pieces very much. Even chippings like The Shepherd's Song, which used to be available on an RCA Gold Seal LP, Brian Rayner Cook and Roger Vignoles, never issued on CD, AFAIK. The Kingdom, The Music Makers, some of the partsongs (Owls), the three late chamber works, the two string pieces, Falstaff - but these are all pieces I love as pieces rather than as specific performances. Del Mar's In The South, on the same disc as the Cohen Cello Concerto, was pretty good though. Re Falstaff, I love the comment by its dedicatee, Landon Ronald - "I could never make head nor tail of it!"

[ardcarp]

I'm glad Kate Kennedy chose The Introduction and Allegro as one of her 5. IMV a great piece. (She chose the Britten recording, BTW.)

[Pabmusic]

Sym. 1: BBC SO/Boult (1976 live)
Sym. 2: BBC SO/Boult (1944)
Enigma: RPO/del Mar
Violin Conc.: Menuhin/LSO/Elgar
In The South: Bournemouth SO/Silvestri

[LMcD]

Symphony no. 1: Boult/BBC SO (Proms 1976 - VERY special)
Symphony no. 2: Handley/LPO
Piano Quintet: Nash Ensemble with Ian Brown
String Quartet: Coull Quartet
Suites: Elgar/LSO

[Alison]

Sym 1: BBCSO/Gardner
Sym 2: RPO/Mackerras
Violin Concerto: Barton-Pine/BBCSO/Litton
Gerontius: BBCSO/Davis
Cockaigne: LPO/Slatkin

Happy to go along with two of KK’s selections.

[cloughie]

Sym 1 PO Barbirolli (or HO Barbirolli live from Kings Lynn 1970)
Sym 2 HO Barbirolli
Introduction & Allegro for Strings SL Barbirolli
Serenade for Strings SL Barbirolli
Falstaff HO Barbirolli