Elgar Symphony No.1: A Quandary

[LeMartinPecheur]

The more I look around, the more I'm pretty convinced that it's impossible to give a truly poor performance of this work.

Pabmusic: this may be true if your use of 'looking around' necessarily implies 'a performance good enough to be available on record'. My only live Elgar 1 was by a university orchestra who really couldn't negotiate the tricky corners, and I suddenly realised why some critics, particularly early ones who may not have been listening to technically proficient performances, reckoned that Elgar wrote sectionally, with too many obvious 'joins'.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think they were right, but this did show how much poor performance can make a great, thoroughly integrated symphony fall apart at the seams

[Pabmusic]

Pabmusic: this may be true if your use of 'looking around' necessarily implies 'a performance good enough to be available on record'. My only live Elgar 1 was by a university orchestra who really couldn't negotiate the tricky corners, and I suddenly realised why some critics, particularly early ones who may not have been listening to technically proficient performances, reckoned that Elgar wrote sectionally, with too many obvious 'joins'.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think they were right, but this did show how much poor performance can make a great, thoroughly integrated symphony fall apart at the seams

Oh - I quite agree. I conducted a number of amateur orchestras and would never tackle Elgar in concert. I got quite tired of people suggesting we should do Scheherazade on one occasion, and we eventually settled on the Beethoven Pastoral - and that was enough work!

[Barbirollians]

Very well done for finding an alternative link. I just found it whilst googling for background to the Symphony (fair bit of bumbling around though!). I also have a link to the BaL script for 'In the South' if anyone's interested. I could listen to David Owen Norris's analysis all day! Most interesting and sound, I think.

The problem though surely is that at the time the live Barbirolli had not been released and the legendary Silvestri was nla.

[Barbirollians]

I am still struggling with this Dresden/Colin Davis account - if they are playing it as if it is Brahms it rather loses its character.

[Thropplenoggin]

I am still struggling with this Dresden/Colin Davis account - if they are playing it as if it is Brahms it rather loses its character.

This was the BaL winner, but as you say, it is very 'hard-driven', and thus perhaps too unique to be a BaL choice. The late Davis is also on fine vocal form, which rather put me off purchasing it in the end.

I'd be tempted to plump for Boult's proms account on the ICA Classics label for the BaL - the sound is none too shoddy, the performance a peach.

[Richard Tarleton]

Edward Gardner and the Plhilharmonia are doing Elgar 1 in Cardiff on 4.4.2014, if anyone's interested - St David's Hall. Natalie Clein will be playing the cello concerto.

[amateur51]

Edward Gardner and the Plhilharmonia are doing Elgar 1 in Cardiff on 4.4.2014, if anyone's interested - St David's Hall. Natalie Clein will be playing the cello concerto.

I saw the Philharmonia in concert with Edward Gardner at the RFH in London recently, RT - Bridge The Sea, Prokofiev piano concerto no 3 (Kirill Gerstein) and Britten Spring Symphony, an outstanding concert.

I've also seen/heard EG conduct the Academy Orchestra of The Royal College of Music in Elgar symphony no 1 and I would be eager to hear him to do it with the Philharmonia - I hope I'm proved right!

[Richard Tarleton]

Sounds promising Ams! St David's Hall is only a short walk from the railway station if anyone is thinking of heading down from Paddington!

I'm a big fan of Natalie Clein's , she's done a couple of recitals near here, one solo and one with Katharine Stott. But I'm dithering over this concert as there are several good ones in the next St D season, including a Bruckner 8 with the Orch of WNO - their Bruckner 7 a year or so ago was superb, it must be playing all that Wagner!

[amateur51]

Sounds promising Ams! St David's Hall is only a short walk from the railway station if anyone is thinking of heading down from Paddington!

I'm a big fan of Natalie Clein's , she's done a couple of recitals near here, one solo and one with Katharine Stott. But I'm dithering over this concert as there are several good ones in the next St D season, including a Bruckner 8 with the Orch of WNO - their Bruckner 7 a year or so ago was superb, it must be playing all that Wagner!

Who's conducting the Bruckner, RT?

I agree about Natalie Clein too - there's a brief snippet of her performing the Elgar with Tod Handley on youtube ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80qwvvSMCTE

[Richard Tarleton]

Who's conducting the Bruckner, RT?

Lothar Koenigs - their regular conductor. His/their Bruckner 7 was something special.

The last performance of the Elgar cello concerto I went to was J du Pré's last ever performance, under Mehta, in Feb 1973. She was struggling by that stage.

[Barbirollians]

Natalie Clein's recording with Tod H is lovely . Completely following her own path without being ascetic .

[mathias broucek]

Pabmusic: this may be true if your use of 'looking around' necessarily implies 'a performance good enough to be available on record'. My only live Elgar 1 was by a university orchestra who really couldn't negotiate the tricky corners, and I suddenly realised why some critics, particularly early ones who may not have been listening to technically proficient performances, reckoned that Elgar wrote sectionally, with too many obvious 'joins'.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think they were right, but this did show how much poor performance can make a great, thoroughly integrated symphony fall apart at the seams

We tried Elgar 1 at university and it wasn't great.

And back desk solos are not good in a non-pro orchestra

[Barbirollians]

The Dresden recording has such strident brass. I think it may be joining the CD Exchanges thread shortly.

[Nick Armstrong]

The Dresden recording has such strident brass. I think it may be joining the CD Exchanges thread shortly.

I got it following the BAL and have tried to like it. I can't either... You put on the Boult/LPO on Lyrita, for instance, and hear the rightness of it all (inc the recording) and

[Barbirollians]

I got it following the BAL and have tried to like it. I can't either... You put on the Boult/LPO on Lyrita, for instance, and hear the rightness of it all (inc the recording) and

Substitute the Proms Boult Elgar 1 on ICA and would agree entirely ( I do not have the Lyrita) .

The Dresden /Davis hectors me and is like being shouted at !