Adrian Boult -

[cloughie]

Ah yes! I missed that. Thanks.

Still no Scottish Elgar 2, though, which did appear on CfP. It was as much an 'EMI' recording as the Enigma/Intro & Allegro one.

Do they still own Waverley recordings? Is the Pye catalogue now owned by EMI - where is the 1956 Elgar 2?

[Pabmusic]

Do they still own Waverley recordings? Is the Pye catalogue now owned by EMI - where is the 1956 Elgar 2?

That's a good point, to which I have no answer.

[PJPJ]

Do they still own Waverley recordings? Is the Pye catalogue now owned by EMI - where is the 1956 Elgar 2?

The Pye catalogue is owned by EMI. Boult's stereo recordings originally for Pye/Nixa/Westminster have been released, newly remastered from the original tapes fairly recently and under licence from EMI, by First Hand Records. This may well account for their absence from the box.

There's the fine Elgar 2 for a start, and an excellent Falstaff and Cockaigne.

http://www.firsthandrecords.com/products-page/album/lpoboult-lposir-adrian-boult-the-1956-nixa-westminster-stereo-recordings/

A companion volume has the energetic readings of the Schumann symphonies and Boult's Berlioz recordings.

[Alain Maréchal]

Am I completely out of touch (probably) or is it becoming increasingly difficul to work out what is available? A search under Schumann and Boult on Amazon brings no results.

[PJPJ]

Am I completely out of touch (probably) or is it becoming increasingly difficul to work out what is available? A search under Schumann and Boult on Amazon brings no results.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-1956-Nixa-Westminster-Stereo-Recordings/dp/B00483CVT8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1368538666&sr=8-3&keywords=boult+first+hand

[Alain Maréchal]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-1956-Nix...ult+first+hand

Thanks, but did you find that by entering 'Schumann' in 'Composer' and 'Boult' in 'Conductor'? I have just entered that again , and that recording didn't turn up. Anybody else like to try?

[Petrushka]

Thanks, but did you find that by entering 'Schumann' in 'Composer' and 'Boult' in 'Conductor'? I have just entered that again , and that recording didn't turn up. Anybody else like to try?

I just entered 'Boult Schumann' in the search box and it came up as the first item. http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_...boult+schumann

I generally find the Amazon search facility to be very good.

[Alain Maréchal]

Indeed it does: I have previously used the 'advanced' search. I have found that if, for example, one enters 'Wolff' under conductor it not only finds the conducting Wolffs, but also the singing Wolffs. Any search facility that is better when a less specific request is made is just not fit for purpose. It wouldn't have made the grade past my old procurement department (which, however, was so thorough it usually managed to make a recommendation shortly after we discovered that technology had moved on and we required something else).

[Sir Velo]

Indeed it does: I have previously used the 'advanced' search. I have found that if, for example, one enters 'Wolff' under conductor it not only finds the conducting Wolffs, but also the singing Wolffs. Any search facility that is better when a less specific request is made is just not fit for purpose.

While I agree with that, I think you are better off just putting the required names (e.g. "Boult"; "Schumann") into the general search box and selecting the "Classical" category from the drop down menu. You get some unwanted recordings but the ones you are interested in should be there. Having said that, obviously, there is a flaw in the way in which items are then categorised by the search facility into the advanced criteria filters. Presumably, some of the recordings just do not provide this information in a format recognisable by the Amazon software.

One other tip: if you can't find the item you are searching for when the CD is a multi-composer or multi-performer disc is to include only one of the composers or performers at a time in the search. For example, a collection of Delius and Grieg music did not come up when searched for under "Delius", but was there when the search was changed for "Grieg" only. Go figure.

One interesting quirk of the Amazon software is that, on occasions, fundamentally the same CD is listed more than once (e.g. as an import; or with a different release date) as a different item. By scrolling to the end of the listing one sometimes finds the same disc at a markedly better price. Reiner's RCA recordings are a classic example of this. These bargains are usually at the end of the listing, among the irrelevant dross which usually comes at the end of each search, but it is often worth trawling through to the end.

[Alain Maréchal]

Thank you, Sir Velo. I'd never previously considered (or possibly not noticed) that drop-down menu. I've always homed straight in on the Advanced Search, to avoid dross (such as, ahem, the wrong Davises). Strange it is that we are dependent on the whims of a techie in a vast commercial enterprise. On reflection, not so strange.

[Dave2002]

The thing that gets me is that there are still quite a lot of recordings that have never appeared on CD. Several of them are World Record Club recordings from the 1960s (all owned presumably by EMI). I've listed them before, but they include an excellent Mendelssohn VC with Maureen Smith (coupled with a very good Italian Symphony - better than the live one recently issued). There's Cherkassky in the Grieg, Schumann and Tchaikovksy 1, and Hyman Bress in the Tchai VC. Then there's two or three LPs of things like the Gershwin Cuban Overture or Saint-Saens Danse Macabre and Wedding Cake Caprice. There's also a very fine pairing of Tchaikovsky ballet suites. All of these are from sessions that were contemporary with famous Boult recordings (the Lyrita Elgar Symphonies, the first Wagner discs, etc). There's also the Waverley (now EMI) recording of the Elgar 2nd with the [R]SNO.

And that's without going back to the 1950s at all.

There's a fairly long list of recordings here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Boult_discography

Obscure things, such as works by Barsukov, recorded by Boult for Everest.

[Pabmusic]

There's a fairly long list of recordings here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Boult_discography

Obscure things, such as works by Barsukov, recorded by Boult for Everest.

Very useful. The best source is the discography by Alan Sanders, published by the Gramophone after Boult's death.

[PJPJ]

There's a fairly long list of recordings here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Boult_discography

Obscure things, such as works by Barsukov, recorded by Boult for Everest.

There are lots of errors in the wiki discography.

The Barsukov concerto appeared on Everest, it is true, though by that time Everest had degenerated into a label issuing recordings from all sources, and not always with correct attribution. The orchestra in this case was the New Philharmonia, according to the sleeve.

[Dave2002]

Very useful. The best source is the discography by Alan Sanders, published by the Gramophone after Boult's death.

Is there an online vesrsion? Maybe in the Gramophone archive?

[Pabmusic]

Is there an online vesrsion? Maybe in the Gramophone archive?

I don't know, but it was a separate booklet of 50 pages or so - not an article in The Gramophone itself. It isn't dated, but it was published around Boult's death, although I notice that the great man provides an introduction, so it was presumably prepared beforehand.

I suppose I could scan it all - but I'm having some difficulty with my scanner at present, but if you'd like to send me a private message, I can keep you informed of progress.