BaL 28.03.15 - Elgar: Symphony no. 2 in E flat

[verismissimo]

Briefly inspected Northrop Moore in the hope of answering your question, LMP, without result thus far.

As second prize, here is Andrew Achenbach's review in Gram of December 1994, covering the Mackerras recording:

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/elgar-symphony-no-2-sea-pictures

[Barbirollians]

Sorry to disappoint with the delay but I have been away for the weekend .

I have already made clear my admiration for the Barenboim on here and I also have a great deal of time for the Halle/Elder recordings and indeed that is a very fine Second . I also love the Boult 1944 .

You may be unsurprised however to find that I regard Morrison's attitude to Barbirolli - it will be noted that he ignored the 1954 recording recently reissued by the Barbirolli Society- as close to imbecilic .

1 The very first thing I think one notices about the Barenboim is the enormous debt his approach to Elgar owes to Barbirolli . That is just as apparent to my ears in this recent record as in his earlier Elgar recordings . Yet this completely passed Morrison by

2 Only someone who is illiterate or deaf could describe the 1964 Barbirolli recording as " stolid and staid " Stolid as I understand it means showing little emotion . What a buffoon - what this performance can properly be criticised for is being too emotional and as a result too lingered over and slow . Staid - sedate and dreary - again the very last thing that could be said about the performance . I defy anyone to listen to that Larghetto in particular and find it stolid !

3 I liked the Mackerras a great deal from the extract played and the Sir Andrew Davis sounded superficial .

[Nick Armstrong]

imbecilic

Welcome back, Barb!

[seabright]

I think it was the Naxos Elgar 1st that was a BAL recommendation - Hurst and the BBC Phil and very fine it is.

Thanks - and also to Caliban - as it looks like I did indeed mis-remember and had the Hurst / Naxos Elgar 1 in mind by mistake! Interesting to read A Aschenbach's review of the Mackerras No. 2 elsewhere here and note that he too thought highly of the Downes / Naxos. Curious also that RM referred to "international" performances of Elgar 2 yet singularly failed to mention the Ashkenazy / Sydney Symphony recording. I have to say I'm firmly with those who feel that BAL is now well past its sell-by-date!

[peterthekeys]

Iain Farrington (piano) (arr. Farrington)

I heard about this arrangement when I was at the Elgar Museum near Malvern in 2013 - the score is published, and I've been meaning to get it ever since (writes memo to self.) I've got the Karg-Elert solo piano arrangement (it's on IMSLP) but much of it is almost unplayable. Apparently the Farrington arrangement is really well thought-out for the piano, and genuinely captures the mood(s) of the symphony.

(I love working through orchestral works in piano arrangements - I often find that I learn things about the internal structure which I haven't previously picked up in performances. I recently found an arrangement (also on IMSLP) of Sibelius 5 - playing through those astonishing harmonies in the last few pages just made me realise more than ever how original and unique he was.)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

In my student days, I borrowed the Karl-Egert arrangement of the 1st Symphony from the Henry Watson music library in Manchester, and spent the next two weeks trying to play it. My mother said: "I really don't like this modern stuff." I explained that it was my ability to play it that was giving her the wrong impression. Once she discovered what it was, she told me her violin teacher at school had played in the first performance.

I heard about this arrangement when I was at the Elgar Museum near Malvern in 2013 - the score is published, and I've been meaning to get it ever since (writes memo to self.) I've got the Karg-Elert solo piano arrangement (it's on IMSLP) but much of it is almost unplayable. Apparently the Farrington arrangement is really well thought-out for the piano, and genuinely captures the mood(s) of the symphony.

(I love working through orchestral works in piano arrangements - I often find that I learn things about the internal structure which I haven't previously picked up in performances. I recently found an arrangement (also on IMSLP) of Sibelius 5 - playing through those astonishing harmonies in the last few pages just made me realise more than ever how original and unique he was.)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

In the days when Rolf Harris was known as a family entertainer, my evil older sister would shout outside my violin practice room "Can you guess what it is yet?!"

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

In the days when Rolf Harris was known as a family entertainer, my evil older sister would shout outside my violin practice room "Can you guess what it is yet?!"

[LeMartinPecheur]

Briefly inspected Northrop Moore in the hope of answering your question, LMP, without result thus far.

As second prize, here is Andrew Achenbach's review in Gram of December 1994, covering the Mackerras recording:

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/e...2-sea-pictures

Thanks for the link verismissimo. I particularly noticed this bit: " (Sir Charles noted over 500 such 'slides' from Elgar's two recordings of this work from the 1920s—EMI, 6/92 and Pearl, 9/92—and subsequently incorporated them into the RPO's parts)."

I'd be interested to know how closely matched the two recordings are on where the portamenti come. If it is very close, wouldn't this be a good indication that EE had asked for them?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I'd be interested to know how closely matched the two recordings are on where the portamenti come. If it is very close, wouldn't this be a good indication that EE had asked for them?[/COLOR]

In the case of the 2nd symphony, the two versions were recorded in 1924/25 and 1927, so a comparison is less significant than with the Enigma Variations, which had a few more years between recordings - the difference here is more marked, reflecting a change in performing styles during the 1920s.

[akiralx]

Was any mention made of Barenboim's 70s LPO recording? - I seem to remember criticism of its exaggerated portamento at the time of its release. My preferences are Barbirolli and Thompson - giving the music room to breathe.

I have the Daz Baz I on CD - quite elastic in tempi and rather garishly recorded for the period, quite an exciting (or excitable) recording. I haven't really returned to it. If you like Thomson, as I do, I can recommend the Tate on EMI.

[Barbirollians]

It is unfortunate that the 1954 Barbirolli was ignored . This was the very first appearance of the work on LP .

I shall play that later today - it is interesting that Michael Kennedy in his note to the EMI British Composers reissue of the recording in 1997 said he preferred it as the faster tempi ( although the Larghetto is pretty much the same ) and the performance as a whole reflected more closely Barbirolli's performances of the work in the concert hall .

I know there is apparently this now long deleted Music and Arts live recording with the Boston SO but it is a shame that there isn't a live Halle recording . If it came close to that King's Lynn recording of the First Symphony it would be pretty special .

[Nick Armstrong]

I prefer those performances that follow the composer's lead and emphasize the momentum and drive of the Music

I so agree... and this is what already seems lacking from the Barenboim currently being broadcast. It's something you can't pick up from short chunks from movements, which is all I've been able to sample hitherto. Beautifully played, but I do need signs of a pulse; there are signs of the music being loved to death by DB...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I'm listening to the Barenboim now, and it's OK, but fails to speak like Barbirolli's interpretations.

Saturday's BaL excerpts have rather pushed me towards investigating the Colin Davis.

[Lordgeous]

I purchased the latest Barenboim some time ago on the strength of glowing reviews but was rather disappointed, even with the sound which, to my ears, especially in the first movement, sounds very confused and congested. I greatly enjoyed the Sinopoli though, and his version of Symph 1 even more so.