Sir John Barbirolli

[Bryn]

I thought that had been fixed long ago - though admittedly some time after the original recording. Watford Town Hall, wasn't it?

Has it been modified again since?

They managed to omit the paste-in from the first GROC issue, IIRC. I think they may also have redone the edit using more recent technology, since. The Musicweb link I included gives the salient points, I think. Not sure whether those GROCs have acquired a 'rarity' value all of their own.

[Barbirollians]

Having listened to the Sony 6 CD box of JB’s recordings 1938-42, I was struck by by the considerable differences between these and his later interpretations.
The first two Sibelius symphonies show many of Sir John’s qualities as we knew them in the 1960s - the expressive phrasing in particular - but the faster speeds are a revelation. I’m not sure which I prefer though.

That Sibelius 1 is incandescent and made it into the final shortlist in the BAL a few years back .

[Barbirollians]

They managed to omit the paste-in from the first GROC issue, IIRC. I think they may also have redone the edit using more recent technology, since. The Musicweb link I included gives the salient points, I think. Not sure whether those GROCs have acquired a 'rarity' value all of their own.

It was in the original EMI Studio release I recall.

[Bryn]

It was in the original EMI Studio release I recall.

Yes. Strange that they managed to miss it out on the first GROC release. A tad careless, what?

[vibratoforever]

I owe a big debt to that recording even though I've never owned it. My dad had a Studio 2 sampler with, on one track, JB's Hall of the Mountain King with terrifying men's chorus
Since then I've always felt let down by the purely orchestral version even though, being then snooty about Studio 2 recording quality, I eventually opted for the Beecham, which is a pretty fair substitute

On Youtube, JBs Hall of the Mountain King from the Studio 2 recording has over 19 million views

[LeMartinPecheur]

On Youtube, JBs Hall of the Mountain King from the Studio 2 recording has over 19 million views

Hadn't realised I'd listened quite so many times!

(Actually it's none on YT but I will do later.)

19m does show that quality will out though!

[Nimrod]

The live relay on Testament from the same time is very fine .

Indeed the live relay of his Berlin Philharmonic performance is also very fine. Alpen asks if Barbirolli's Mahler recordings stand up to more recent ones? I have listened to his 'off-the-air recordings, too, and think they truely represent his Mahler interpretations. I've a Mahler 5th with the Halle, recorded by the BBC the day after two performances in the FTH and just from a timing point of view it bears no relation to his EMI recording. I seem to recall an overall time of around 61-62 minutes! But really exciting!

[HighlandDougie]

If anyone can't wait until the 'official' release date, Warner have sent out an email saying that it's available now from their online store - for £139.99:

https://eurostore.warnermusic.com/uk/the-complete-warner-recordings.html?eml=2020May29%2F4995979%2F6225064&etsubid=83035110

[johnb]

If anyone can't wait until the 'official' release date, Warner have sent out an email saying that it's available now from their online store - for £139.99:

https://eurostore.warnermusic.com/uk...subid=83035110

That is a very good price too.

[AlanE]

If anyone can't wait until the 'official' release date, Warner have sent out an email saying that it's available now from their online store - for £139.99:

https://eurostore.warnermusic.com/uk...subid=83035110

Thank you, HighlandDougie, for this irresistible link, and I'm pleased to say that the box arrived a few days ago and has already provided a great deal of pleasure, not least in comparisons with earlier digital transfers in my collection. Oddly there is very little information on the new remasters, other than that they are done in 192kHz/24Bit by Studio Art & Son, Annecy, from original tapes in the case of LPs, and from 'from the best available sources' in the case of 78rpm discs.
Obviously listening to cds at 44.1kHz/16bit is not an ideal way to make comparisons with earlier remasters but there do appear to be some improvements (using headphones) and - more importantly, perhaps, no notable deterioration in the original tapes over the passage of time. A few examples: the 1957 Dvorak 8th Symphony recording by Mercury for Pye finds a little more warmth, and life, in the bass than the 1992 EMI remaster - and slightly more background noise, too. The 1962 Enigma Variations makes a modest improvement to EMI's 1988 remaster, with a little more presence given to the cymbals, though they're still rather too recessed in the orchestral balance. I'll stick with the Mercury recording from 1957 for this work.The most pleasing moment so far has been the opening of the 4th mvt of the Mahler 1st Symphony in 1957, with the percussion given more impact than in the fine remaster by Michael Dutton in 1999 for the Barbirolli Society. What a shame that Warner haven't provided Blu ray audio discs as a supplement, though!
The discs are presented in more-or-less chronological order of recording, (orchestral/concerto/vocal works) with the original covers, and recording details (quite an achievement, by Malcolm Walker). There is an introduction by John Tolansky and a generous appreciation by Raymond Holden in the booklet, with an alphabetical index of composers, but no listing of the individual cds.
I was fortunate to hear many of John Barbirolli's performances in Sheffield City Hall, 1960-70, most memorably an incandescent performance of Otello at the time of his recording in 1968. At the time I could only occasionally scrape enough money together to buy an LP. How wonderful now to have this comprehensive document of a great man!

[Bryn]

That is a very good price too.

p&p is £9.49 on top. So £149.48 is what you pay. If you can wait a couple of weeks, it's £147.37 (including p&p) from amazon.it.

[Barbirollians]

I have over the years collected the vast majority of this box but I suspect I am going to cave in .

Today listening to his recording of the Dvorak 8 - one of the very greatest IMO.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I have over the years collected the vast majority of this box but I suspect I am going to cave in .

Today listening to his recording of the Dvorak 8 - one of the very greatest IMO.

I received the box set yesterday. I’m listening to the early recordings from 78s. Really good transfers.

Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro, with the John Barbirolli Chamber Orchestra, is a revelation, and I can understand why the composer admired it so much.

[Petrushka]

I received the box set yesterday. I’m listening to the early recordings from 78s. Really good transfers.

Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro, with the John Barbirolli Chamber Orchestra, is a revelation, and I can understand why the composer admired it so much.

I received the set last Friday and have been playing some of it over the past few days. There are a fair number of 78s in the set which I've not yet sampled but it's good to have the Pye recordings here. Everything I've so far heard has, as far as I can judge, been excellently transferred. Only quibble I've got is that the CDs are a little too tightly packed in the box but removal of the booklet allows some 'give'.

Incidentally, nice to finally discover a recording set down on the day I was born!

[johnb]

My box arrived yesterday too.

I'll start listening today. (Though where do I start?)

One thing that struck me on opening the box was just how very meagre the booklet is. A ten page essay, some photographs and a just a list of pieces in composer order which includes the CD numbers.

If you are going to issue such an important set you might as well provide a decent booklet (or even a book) to go with it. The contrast with, say, the lavish book for Julian Bream's complete RCA recordings box set is stark.

Also, why on earth is there no track listings or recording details other than on the backs of the individual CD covers?

I am very grateful to Warner Classics for compiling the box set and for the remasterings but at the same time it feels as though potential purchasers are being treated with disdain.

Anyway, I am putting together a full track listing with recording dates, venues, etc for my own reference. If I ever finish it I will provide a link to so that anyone interested can use it.