Elgar recommendations sought

[Guest]

Having watched the rather excellent TV programme 'Elgar- the Man Behind the Mask' I realise that there is much of his music that I have not heard. One of my CD Review guides has some recommendations and I've put them in brackets but I'd particularly like recommendations for:

The Apostles (Hickox/Palmer/LSO)
The Music Makers ( ditto)

Sospiri (Barbirolli and New Phil)

Many thanks

[MrGongGong]

Having watched the rather excellent TV programme 'Elgar- the Man Behind the Mask' I realise that there is much of his music that I have not heard. One of my CD Review guides has some recommendations and I've put them in brackets but I'd particularly like recommendations for:

The Apostles (Hickox/Palmer/LSO)
The Music Makers ( ditto)



Sospiri (Barbirolli and New Phil)

Many thanks

My recommendation would be ............


don't go there at all !


(cue the invasion of the Bufton Tuftons )

[BetweenTheStaves]

That is very helpful and informative, thank you.

I appreciate the time taken by you to provide this insight.

Now if you have nothing further to contribute then please go away and stop being a numpty.

[Uncle Monty]

Well, fair dos, it was a suggestion of sorts

I too would need to be tied up and drugged to listen through The Apostles, so faced with a request for the best version, although I know I ought to say nothing and leave it to those who actually like it, it seems only kind to issue a warning

[umslopogaas]

The 2010 Penguin Guide recommends:

The Music Makers: Boult with the LPO and Lond. Phil. Choir, with Janet Baker. On CD, EMI 3 91978-2

The Apostles: Boult with the LPO and Lond. Phil. Choir and soloists Armstrong, Watts, Tear, Luxon, Grant, Carol Case. On a 2 CD set, EMI 7 64206-2

Sospiri: New Philharmonia with Barbirolli. CD EMI 5 67240-2

I'm sure I used to have Sospiri on an Argo LP with the Academy of St Martins and Marriner, but I cant find it. Lovely work. I have The Music Makers on the original HMV LP, dated 1967. I dont think I could stomach The Apostles and dont have a recording. I have a lot of trouble with The Dream of Gerontius too: its musically overwhelming, but, not to put too fine a point on it, the poem stinks.

[PJPJ]

Barbirolli - Sospiri, and Boult - The Music Makers are terrific.

Another fine Sospiri comes from William Boughton on Nimbus - well worth sampling.

I love The Dream of Gerontius but don't pay much attention to the words.....

[Roehre]

Barbirolli - Sospiri, and Boult - The Music Makers are terrific.

Fullheartedly agreed, though I'd like to add my own other choice as well: Bryden Thomson on Chandos .

I can see where MrGG comes from in his non-appreciation of The Apostles. Of Elgar's works the oratorios The Apostles and The Dream are the only ones I really don't like, even after repeated listening. Too provincial IMO.
No recommendations from my side therefore either, I'm afraid.

[verismissimo]

I wouldn't be without Elgar's own electrical recordings, which I've had for years on LP. They are being released in a 9CD box at the end of NEXT WEEK at a very low price.

http://hmv.com/hmvweb/simpleMultiSearch.do?searchUID=&pGroupID=-1&adultFlag=false&simpleSearchString=elgar+edition+the+complete+electrical+recordings&primaryID=0

Among the most important recordings ever made IMO and in very decent sound.

[gradus]

You don't mention it but The Kingdom has some of EE's finest work and in the Boult recording there is sublime singing from as good a quartet of soloists as you could assemble. Margaret Price singing The sun goeth down is spine-tingling and Boult's passionate reading is the perfect framework for her lovely voice.

[VodkaDilc]

I feel that The Apostles and The Kingdom are great works - in the right hands! Boult has never been improved on; somewhere I still have a signed copy of the LP of The Apostles - it was a great day when that was released.

As regards Sospiri and The Music Makers, I have a good recording of both on the same CD, with Andrew Davis and the BBCSO. The ultimate Music Makers though is the one with Boult and Janet Baker - I have it coupled with Boult's Gerontius, though the packaging might be different now.

It's amazing to think how far we have come; I remember, as a student, being taught that The Apostles, The Kingdom and the symphonies were aspects of Elgar best avoided.

[hafod]

In thee light of previous comments concerning Boult you may like to consider acquiring The Apostles, The Music Makers, The Kingdom and Gerontius in a 6 Cd box set from EMI currently available from Amazon for £9.99. IMO Boult is peerless in this repertoire.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elgar-Choral-Works-Helen-Watts/dp/B000I0SGXK/ref=dp_return_2?ie=UTF8&n=229816&s=music

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The Apostles - either Boult or Hickox (both superb in different ways)
The Kingdom - Boult
The Dream of Gerontius - Britten or Barbirolli
The Music Makers - Boult (choral singing a bit rough, bt Janet Baker outshines all competitors
The Light of Life - Groves
Caractacus - Hickox (The Groves version NOT recommended)
King Olaf - Handley (the only version, but extremely fine)
Coronation Ode - Ledger
The Spirit of England - Gibson
Violin Concerto - lots of good ones here, but I prefer (controversially) the 1966 Menhuin/Boult
Cello Concerto - Navarra/Barbirolli
Cockaigne - Solti or Barbirolli
Symphony no. 1 - 1957 Halle/Barbirolli
Symphony no. 2 - Andrew Davis
In the South - VPO/JEG
Froissart - Barbirolli
Falstaff - Barbirolli
The Crown of India - Andrew Davis
Sospiri - Barbirolli
Introduction & Allegro - Britten (or Barbirolli)
Enigma Variations - Philharmonia/Barbirolli
Serenade for Strings - Marriner
Elgar/Payne Symphony no. 3 - Daniel

[Chris Newman]

Boult is supreme in The Kingdom, Apostles and Music Makers. Margaret Price is glorious in the Kingdom. For good substitutes in the "religious" ones I would go for Leonard Slatkin. An excellent alternative download of a live Albert Hall (Boult's 90th Birthday) Music Makers is available on the Naxos website on the BBC Legends label with Norman del Mar, BBC forces and Sarah Walker.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Another Music Makers worth considering is the Halle/Elder version.

One thing that worries me slightly in the Boult Apostles is soloist Sheila Armstrong's voice not being particularly well suited to the microphone. She was superb in concert, but less so on recordings. Having said that the soloists on the Hickox Apostles demonstrate that Chandos don't always get it right either - in this instance they all sound too close.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I wouldn't be without Elgar's own electrical recordings, which I've had for years on LP. They are being released in a 9CD box at the end of NEXT WEEK at a very low price.
Among the most important recordings ever made IMO and in very decent sound.

Issuing these again as a single set is an excellent idea. The original format was three boxes of three, but these have been (quite inexplicably) unavailable for some time.

The Pearl set of pre-electric recordings is fascinating too. It includes Elgar's first ever recording "Carissima" which shows us quite clearly that (in spite of the claims of a certain HIPP conductor) orchestras used a considerable amount of string vibrato in the early years of the 20th century.