Barbirolli - favourite recordings

[amateur51]

A modest slice off the price of Barbirolli Society CDs from MDT

http://www.mdt.co.uk/special-offers/barbirolli-society.html

Every little helps ...

[Barbirollians]

On the train to London yesterday after listening to the podcast of the BAL Mahler 6 I thought I would give the Barbirolli Mahler 5 another listen .

I really warmed to it . The finale in particular is a delight and the Adagietto is not in anyway self-indulgent . I have always been a Bernstein VPO man in this work but I did get a real sense of why this record was such a hit back in the late 60s .

[Thropplenoggin]

I was thinking of investing in the Barbirolli/Baker Dream of Gerontius, as I don't yet own a copy (although am familiar with the work). I think Barbirolli is a solid Elgarian - I have a box set containing all the orchestral works - but my only hesitation is the sound quality in the crescendos, where it seems to suffer from distortion, a sort of sonic flaring, like the microphones blowing out, unable to cope with the volume e.g. 'Praise to the Holiest' in the second part.

I'm listening with headphones via Qobuz, a music-streaming service, and I wonder whether the actual CD suffers from this issue.

Obviously, the well-received and fairly recent Mark Elder/Hallé recording doesn't suffer from these issues and is also tempting but is much more expensive!

[Mahler's3rd]

I think his Mahler Interpretations are quite superb, and the Sibelius Box set is unsurpassed on EMI, just fantastic. Im trying to find some of his Proms recordings, the Bruckner 8 from the Royal Festival Hall also electric

[JFLL]

This may have been already touched on (if so, apologies). I've just received the EMI Barbirolli Sibelius box and no 'Tapiola'. Did Barbirolli ever record it?

[Karafan]

This may have been already touched on (if so, apologies). I've just received the EMI Barbirolli Sibelius box and no 'Tapiola'. Did Barbirolli ever record it?

No. I don't think he did record it; though he definitely conducted it (certainly at Belle Vue with the Halle in the late 1940s and possibly at other times too - it is mentioned in Kennedy's biography).

[Barbirollians]

I said on another thread that Shipway conducts the Alpine Symphony as I imagine Sir John might have done.

Did you ? I have searched for your post but cannot find it . Quite tempted to get this .

[pastoralguy]

On the train to London yesterday after listening to the podcast of the BAL Mahler 6 I thought I would give the Barbirolli Mahler 5 another listen .

I really warmed to it . The finale in particular is a delight and the Adagietto is not in anyway self-indulgent . I have always been a Bernstein VPO man in this work but I did get a real sense of why this record was such a hit back in the late 60s .

There's a wonderful bit in the scherzo where you can hear Sir John moaning and groaning with the 'cellos and basses...

[johnb]

There's a wonderful bit in the scherzo where you can hear Sir John moaning and groaning with the 'cellos and basses...

He is very restrained in his recordings in comparison to how I remember him live at the Free Trade Hall when I was a teenager.

[Barbirollians]

Indeed PG - he can also be heard groaning away when you listen to that BBC legends Mahler 4 - adds wonderfully to the atmosphere !

[amateur51]

Indeed PG - he can also be heard groaning away when you listen to that BBC legends Mahler 4 - adds wonderfully to the atmosphere !

I completely agree but I do understand that for some it is a deal-breaker

[Barbirollians]

The VW 4 recently released on Barb Society is quite stunning - so different from the composer much slower but intense and extraordinary .

A great shame he and the Halle were not given a chance to record a complete studio set .

[Colonel Danby]

My mother went as a small girl with my grandfather to Bellevue in Manchester to hear "glorióus" John Barbirolli conduct with the Halle on numerous occasions in the early fifties: I was green with envy with her tales of his work. My favourite recording of his has to be the Enigma Variations with the Philharmonia on EMI. A great man

[Tony Halstead]

What a pity that your favourite Barbirolli recording isn't one with his beloved Hallé...
As you are clearly an Elgar lover, I earnestly recommend that you track down the sublime Barbirolli / Hallé 'Introduction and Allegro' dating from about 1957 in 'early but excellent' stereo, originally on a 'Pye' LP but re-released several times on CD.



It's a totally breathtaking performance that IMHO knocks the later EMI 'Sinfonia of London' ( a 'pick-up band') recording 'for six'.

[Colonel Danby]

I have a CD transfer tape of Lenny's Mahler 5 from the Albert Hall: unfortunately I didn't quite manage to get into the arena as they closed the doors just as I was going to enter, but the broadcast has the benefit of the wonderful Susan Sharp and Donald Macleod live on Radio Three. The performance itself was quite glorious: slow obviously but sublime notwithstanding. I never saw Bernstein live, which fault I shall carry to my dying day, but I have loads of his stuff both as composer and conducter.