BaL 4.01.20 - Elgar: Enigma Variations

[Stanfordian]

That cathedral acoustic for the Del Mar adds to the atmosphere and the organ at the end goes on forever!

I admire the Del Mar recording too!

I wonder if it gets a mention.

[Lordgeous]

Delighted to see so many share my admiration for the Del Mar. The BAL will be interesting but I suspect, as so often, a little frustrating!

[Oakapple]

That Del Mar recording was also part of The Great Composers series (number 45) which appeared in the 1980s. Every fortnight there was an LP or cassette with a magazine for £2.75, available from newsagents.

[Petrushka]

No-one has so far mentioned the original ending. It's included on the Halle/Elder disc and you can programme it in if you want, though it does show that Elgar's revision (prompted by Jaeger) was a move very much for the better. I like Elder's performance and think it merits strong consideration for being the library choice.

[Pulcinella]

Away from my collection here, but certainly RPO/Del Mar (yes, that organ) and LSO/Monteux are on the shelves, as are BBCSO/Bernstein (which in a curious way I admire) and RLPO/Handley.

[LeMartinPecheur]

LSO/ Monteux (Decca World of...) was my first as a student, because cheap as well as good. Later supplemented by PO/ Barbirolli and LPO/ Mackerras, and Elgar's own via World Record Club, all on LP. Not very much on CD except the big EMI box of all Elgar's electrical recordings and a Naxos Bournemouth SO/ Hurst. Oh, and a BBC MM. So not very many really, but I daresay quite enough.

[makropulos]

Mackerras/LPO (originally EMI) doesn't seem to be on the original list (his other two recordings are) –but it is available as part of the ICON box of Mackerras recordings. It's been my favourite Enigma for many years, alongside Eugen Jochum's DG recording with the LSO. Both are affectionate and sensitive, but never fussy, and both are brisk and exciting where they need to be. As well as many others (Boult several times, Barbirolli, Monteux) I'm pretty happy with my stash of Enigmas. It'll be interesting to see where the discussion leads.

[seabright]

I was surprised to see so many entries in #1 as being "download only." The Stokowski / Czech Philharmonic, for example, is readily available as a CD from Cala, where it is coupled with an LSO Brahms 1 and, as can be seen in the review quotes on the Cala page, it received quite a few "raves" ...

https://www.calarecords.com/acatalog/info_CACD0524.html

Both performances are also available in a massive 23-CDs Decca Boxed Set of all Stokowski's "Phase-4" recordings, ranging from Bach, Vivaldi and Handel up to Stravinsky, Messiaen and Ives ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Leopold-Stokowski-Complete-Decca-Recordings/dp/B0777CX2NQ

Here is a sample of the Czech PO Elgar, including "Nimrod" where Stokowski's "free-bowing" in the strings contributed to a superbly refulgent sound ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US-cquums-E

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Thanks Seabright.
Duly amended.

[seabright]

Thanks Seabright.
Duly amended.

Thanks to you for your wonderful listings. I certainly couldn't compile such a list, so I hope you'll forgive me if I point out a couple more CDs which are listed as downloads only, simply because I have both of them in my collection! ...

Rolf Kleinert / Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elgar-Variations-Lutoslawski-Concerto-Orchestra/dp/B00008OWZQ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Elgar+Enigma+Kleinert+Berlin&qid=1577623437&sr=8-1

Stanislaw Skrowaczewski / Saarbrucken Radio Symphony Orchestra ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Britten-Concerto-Piano-Enigma-Variations/dp/B006NVMM2Y/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Elgar+Enigma+Skrowaczewski&qid=1577623079&sr=8-2

I doubt if either of these will get a mention but we shall see!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Thanks to you for your wonderful listings. I certainly couldn't compile such a list, so I hope you'll forgive me if I point out a couple more CDs which are listed as downloads only, simply because I have both of them in my collection! ...

Rolf Kleinert / Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elgar-Variations-Lutoslawski-Concerto-Orchestra/dp/B00008OWZQ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Elgar+Enigma+Kleinert+Berlin&qid=1577623437&sr=8-1

Stanislaw Skrowaczewski / Saarbrucken Radio Symphony Orchestra ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Britten-Concerto-Piano-Enigma-Variations/dp/B006NVMM2Y/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Elgar+Enigma+Skrowaczewski&qid=1577623079&sr=8-2

I doubt if either of these will get a mention but we shall see!

Sorted. Thank you again.

[pastoralguy]

BBCSO/Bernstein (which in a curious way I admire) .

It certainly has conviction even if it's not idiomatic.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

... as are BBCSO/Bernstein (which in a curious way I admire)

Perhaps this was the performance that inspired the extreme stretching of Nimrod in "Dunkirk"?

[makropulos]

The Ormandy/Philadelphia version (Sony) is still available from Amazon in at least three different CD incarnations. It's always interesting to hear a great American orchestra in this repertoire.

The first of Mackerras's recordings (LPO/EMI) is still missing from the original list of recordings, though it is readily available in the ICON box.

[seabright]

I hesitate to add another Barbirolli CD to the list, as this one is definitely "not available," unless you can fork out $150.99 for a copy! ... It's on a 2-CD 'Arkadia' set where he conducted "Gerontius" in Rome in 1957, with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della Rai and soloists Jon Vickers, Constance Shacklock and Marian Nowakowski. The "Enigma Variations" in the same set comes from another 1957 broadcast, this time with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino della Rai. As these broadcasts are well out-of-copyright under the EU's Directive on Sound Recordings, dated 1 November 2013, I'm surprised these performances haven't been reissued. If the current asking price for the old 'Arkadia' Set is $150.99, it's about time someone brought out a newly-remastered edition! ...

https://www.amazon.com/Elgar-Gerontius-Variazioni-Originale-Sinfonia/dp/B00008EP16

If you've not heard Jon Vickers as Gerontius in this Italian performance, click the link below. Incidentally, the RAI Chorus sings the work as if it were Verdi and they sound just great, as indeed does Vickers ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asxrWBVnfrs