Barbirolli - favourite recordings

[Barbirollians]

I have recently got to know his VPO Brahms symphonies on Japanese EMI CDs and like his 2nd very much.

Also his accompaniment to Andre Navarra in the Elgar Cello Concerto on EMI (a much better performance than the du Pre recording).

Fighting talk ! As much as I like the Navarra/ Barbirolli recording the Du Pre is in a league of its own. Its legendary status is well deserved .

[akiralx]

Fighting talk ! As much as I like the Navarra/ Barbirolli recording the Du Pre is in a league of its own. Its legendary status is well deserved .

Yep, maybe fighting talk. I actually prefer Wispelwey's recording to either, but that's another story...

[cloughie]

As for favourite recordings, there are a lot: Delius Appalachia, Elgar Gerontius and the earlier recordings of the symphonies, VW 2, 5 (especially the later one), 7 and 8, Bax Tintagel, Nielsen 4...

His English music was mostly good - I liked his Delius, as good as Beecham but different, VW2 (both EMI & PYE) & 5 yes (I always think it a shame that RVW's Glorious John did not record a Symphony cycle plus Job, but Boult(VG) was on that pad) , Tintagel definitely. His Gerontius had Janet Baker on top form in the difficult job of following Kathleen Ferrier, but the recording for me is always spoiled by Kim Borg's accent. On Beethoven I like his Eroica.

[Barbirollians]

His live Bruckner recordings unearthed on BBC Legends are all superb especially the 3rd and 8th . His 8th is a desert island disc for me .

[Ferretfancy]

I've so many Barbirolli recordings that this is an almost impossible choice. I was lucky enough to see him conduct on numerous occasions, including the first London performance of VW 8, and a specially memorable evening at the Fairfield Halls in a programme of fifths, VW, Sibelius and Schubert.

Anyway, here are a few slightly less obvious Barbirolli Favourites

ARENSKY Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky

SIBELIUS Pohjola's Daughter - the best since Koussevitsky

STRAUSS Ein Heldenleben - the last recording he made.

DVORAK Symphony No. 8

TCHAIKOVSKY Francesca da Rimini

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No. 8 ( Premiere recording )

In The Maestro Myth, that otherwise rather nasty book by Norman Lebrecht, he says that Halle musicians were sometimes near to tears when remembering Barbirolli

[richardfinegold]

Oh, yes! Sibelius!!! How on earth could I have missed that box out!


(Rhetorical question, by the way! )

That is my reference set. Just outstanding.

[richardfinegold]

He had a rough time when he was the Conductor of the New York Philharmonic, but I recently heard excerpts from some concerts that he led when re turned as a guest there after the war. The rapport between him and the Orchestra seemed fantastic and one would never know that there had been problems. It must have been a case of absence making the heart grow fonder.

[Barbirollians]

He had a rough time when he was the Conductor of the New York Philharmonic, but I recently heard excerpts from some concerts that he led when re turned as a guest there after the war. The rapport between him and the Orchestra seemed fantastic and one would never know that there had been problems. It must have been a case of absence making the heart grow fonder.

According to the magisterial biography by Michael Kennedy his problems Weren't with the musicians but with the critics and management.

[akiralx]

According to the magisterial biography by Michael Kennedy his problems Weren't with the musicians but with the critics and management.

Yes, mainly critics. The orchestra loved him and he played to higher capacities than Toscanini.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

A few favourites:-

Elgar 1 Halle/Pye/1957
Brahms 3 VPO
Elgar Froissart Overture
Sibelius 1 (Pye)
VW 5 Philharmonia
Ireland These Things shall be
Wagner Meistersinger Ov.
Vaughan Williams Tallis Fantasia
Quilter A Children's Overture
Elgar Cello Concerto (Navarra)
Tchaikovsky Francesca da Rimini

[cloughie]

Oh, yes! Sibelius!!! How on earth could I have missed that box out!


(Rhetorical question, by the way! )

...and his Pohjola's Daughter I have always liked, his sometimes broader tempi in the symphonies back then provided a contrast to the also very good Collins which was my first choice (at a good price on Ace of Clubs). As an aside - anyone remember Sinfonia of London and Hannikainen in Nos 2 & 5.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

As an aside - anyone remember Sinfonia of London and Hannikainen in Nos 2 & 5.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sibelius-Symphony-Karelia-Suite-Remastered/dp/B004VURQU2/ref=sr_1_2?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1353011331&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sibelius-Symphony-No-2/dp/B0059QQFSG/ref=sr_1_7?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1353011331&sr=1-7

[cloughie]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sibelius-Sym...3011331&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sibelius-Sym...3011331&sr=1-7

ferney, I picked up this when it cost considerably less:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sibelius-Finlandia-En-Saga-Vpo/dp/B000000UWN/ref=sr_1_9?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1353012812&sr=1-9

any idea what the Hallmark transfers are like?

[mathias broucek]

any idea what the Hallmark transfers are like?

Good question. I like their approach to artwork which is often based on the original LPs but haven't taken the plunge yet

EDIT - a couple of bad reviews on Amazon for Krips' Beethoven based on poor transfers (one with scratches and one with distortion)

[EdgeleyRob]

An all time favourite of mine,a desert island disc.