EMI Elgar Edition

[smittims]

In Lani Spahr's SOMM 4-CD set is a version of the 1930 Kingsway Hall First Symphony in which seven out of the eleven sides are of unpublished take-ones. This produces a different , more spontaneous performance.

The set also includes 'accidental-stereo' reconstructions, of which the gem, for me, is a complete cello concerto with Beatrice Harrison, long considered by connoisseurs the finest recorded interpretation.

[Dave2002]

Did the box set of LPs of Elgar conducting ever get reissued on CD - with essentially the same content? I think it did, but don't remember the details. I seem to recall buying the original box set as a present for my dad, but that has no doubt gone to a different place now.

[smittims]

I had thought that the Serenade Mauresque, op.10 no.2, appeared for the first time in the 2011 one-box reissue, butit has the date '1992' so I suppose it was in the 3x3 sets. EMI usually reissued whole CD contents , as for instance in those lovely bargain boxes with one-colour flowery 'wallpaper'. In one case at least the contents of one CD were stubbornly those of the original CD and not those listed in the booklet!

[Barbirollians]

Yes - The Elgar Edition 9 CDs still available on Amazon for £27 or so.

[Barbirollians]

I am not really a fan of Gerontius but the excepts conducted by the composer in the RAH in 1927 are remarkably atmospheric and involving considering the sound.

[smittims]

They (and the Hereford Festival Gerontius extracts) are a good example of what coould be achieved by the old 'free' style of performance. By comparison with today's 'precise' style the ensemble is shaky, but the intensity of the performance is something one does not hear today.

[Barbirollians]

They (and the Hereford Festival Gerontius extracts) are a good example of what coould be achieved by the old 'free' style of performance. By comparison with today's 'precise' style the ensemble is shaky, but the intensity of the performance is something one does not hear today.

And how fresh as paint are his Enigma Variations with a glorious Nimrod very much a September walk talking about Beethoven.

As for the VC with Menuhin it just never pales.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I am not really a fan of Gerontius but the excerpts conducted by the composer in the RAH in 1927 are remarkably atmospheric and involving considering the sound.

The Elgar Edition box contained slightly more of the Gerontius performance than the earlier releases, another 78 rpm pressing having been discovered. Other lost Elgar recordings, including an excerpt from The Apostles, are probably gone forever.

[smittims]

I miss especially the 1924 'Imperial March' , which was destroyed. I'd liek to hear Elgar conduct it as it's a very personal work; the whimsical, lyrical trio sounding as if he is already looking forward to getting back to the Worstershire lanes. The work is a miscroscosm of his two natures.

[gradus]

Scrolling through the DID Archive I came to Sargent and his choices including the Elgar vln conc with Heifetz conducted by Elgar, new one on me, is there such a recording?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Scrolling through the DID Archive I came to Sargent and his choices including the Elgar vln conc with Heifetz conducted by Elgar, new one on me, is there such a recording?

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/june01/ElgarWalton.htm

[smittims]

No, it's Heifetz/LSO/Sargent, an HMV recording . It's on a Naxos Historical CD with Jascha's first recording of the Walton (with Goossens conducting).

It's a fine recording and good for those who find the Menuhin/Elgar too indulgent (Elgar relaxed his own tempi considerably on that memorable day). I slightly prefer Campoli/Boult on Decca which would have been Heifetz' main rival in the early 1950s. I think Campoli was underrated, partly for snobbery reasons, as he had made a name in light music first.

Elgar met Heifetz, but they didn't record together.

[Barbirollians]

What a great set it is and on the last CD that 1933 Cockaigne with the BBC SO - sensational and a lovely and far from sentimental Serenade for Strings.

[smittims]

Do try the 'accidental stereo' versions of Elgar's recordings, transcribed by Lani Spahr. The prize is a complete cello concerto in the 1928 recording, long considered the finest interpretation on disc by Elgarians.

[Barbirollians]

Do try the 'accidental stereo' versions of Elgar's recordings, transcribed by Lani Spahr. The prize is a complete cello concerto in the 1928 recording, long considered the finest interpretation on disc by Elgarians.

Are they the Somm recordings ?