BaL 4.01.20 - Elgar: Enigma Variations

[Alison]

Fantastic list, Alpie. Many thanks.


I'd probably go for the LPO under Mackerras since that was the first cd I ever bought and it's a recording that's quite special, imho.

I remember buying this disc in Oxford St and couldn’t stop playing it for months. Thrilling Falstaff as well.

[pastoralguy]

I remember buying this disc in Oxford St and couldn’t stop playing it for months. Thrilling Falstaff as well.

What I loved was the individual banding of all the sections in 'Falstaff' with the action described in the booklet. At last, I finally knew what the heck was going on in that work!

[Lordgeous]

I have the RPO/Del Mar disc (coupled with some exhilerating P & C Marches) which I think is extremely good despite being recorded in a Cathdral acoustic. I do hope KC doesn't spend too much time on the Bernstein - his Nimrod totally rules it out for me. Fascinating how one's first hearing stays with you for ever: Barbirolli, Oxford Town Hall in the 1950s or 60s.

[ardcarp]

The first one I put my hand on was Rattle/CBSO about which Gramophone said:

Rattle's Enigma [....] aided by a highly responsive CBSO, the results are always enjoyable and refreshing, with myriad details in Elgar's lovingly-woven orchestral canvas adroitly pinpointed (Downes's BBC PO version, too, is especially strong in this regard). The sluggishness that so often blights the opening bars is mercifully absent and Rattle follows it up with a wonderfully transparent and affectionate ''C. A. E.''. Rattle brings an almost chamber-like intimacy and point to ''R. B. T.'', ''Ysobel'' and ''W. N.'', whilst his ''Dorabella'' is a veritable miracle of tripping delicacy. Equally, I revelled in the exhilarating punch and clean-limbed virtuosity of the more extrovert numbers: both ''Troyte'' and ''G. R. S.'' winningly combine athleticism and bluster. ''Nimrod'', too, is a success, its progress dignified and its noble climax unerringly well graduated (and, yes, we really do get a genuine ppp at the start). Overall, then, a fine, deeply-felt Enigma.....

Suits me very well, and it's always good to reflect on Elgar's association with Birmingham. Will this get a mention? I doubt it.

[HighlandDougie]

There is a Japanese SACD version listed on Amazon, a bargain at £38.54!

Une de mes favorites, bought out East. Great remastering - it almost sounds as if it was recorded yesterday. I may - or may not - be headed to HK just after the New Year so if anyone would like to hear the Barbirolli sounding at its very best at a rather lower price than that via Amazon UK, let me know.

[cloughie]

I have the RPO/Del Mar disc (coupled with some exhilerating P & C Marches) which I think is extremely good despite being recorded in a Cathdral acoustic. I do hope KC doesn't spend too much time on the Bernstein - his Nimrod totally rules it out for me. Fascinating how one's first hearing stays with you for ever: Barbirolli, Oxford Town Hall in the 1950s or 60s.

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

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

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

- Guildford, IIRC?

[cloughie]

- Guildford, IIRC?

Yup! - and a superbargain on Fontana when it first appeared at a similar time to the excellent RPO Dorati Beethoven 5.

[Petrushka]

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

Recorded in Guildford Cathedral and one of those recordings with a telling organ contribution at the end. It's a major factor in a recommendation of the Enigma for me with Andrew Davis/BBCSO, Norman del Mar/RPO, Mark Elder/Halle and Bernard Haitink/LPO (both recordings - I was present at the live one) being excellent in this respect.

That aside, I have special affection for Barbirolli/Philharmonia and Halle, and Jochum/LSO among the many on my shelves.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Yup! - and a superbargain on Fontana when it first appeared at a similar time to the excellent RPO Dorati Beethoven 5.

Wasn't it on Contour Classics? (Yellowy-cream cover surrounding a rather nice oval water colour? 99p.)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

[cloughie]

I was almost right they were polydor produced - enigma was 2870440 and the Dorati Beethoven 5 2870482 and both were reissued on DG Privilege, moving from superbargain to mid-price. There were other DG reissues on Contour 2870... such as Fricsay’s Tchaik 5 and 6. Philips/Mercury/Fontana on 6870... such as Dorati’s Firebird. All useless information but some great listening 45 or so years ago!

[Keraulophone]

‘Tis the LP I have loved, recently supplemented with the Decca Eloquence reissue, in which the (rather uninteresting Guildford Cathedral) organ sounds even more telling. The P&C marches are superbly dispatched.

It’s sometimes forgotten how good the old and the current RPO was and is, whether in its heyday under its founder Beecham, or with Kempe and Dorati in the 1970s or at this year’s Wagner Night Prom, recently repeated on R3 and sounding glorious. Its inability to have secured a long-term London base (the Cadogan Hall is inadequate) and tales of it appearing in two different countries simultaneously have clouded its reputation, placing it behind the Philharmonia, LSO, LPO, and even the BBCSO in listeners’ minds; but IMV its players are and have been first-rate.

[gradus]

Yup! - and a superbargain on Fontana when it first appeared at a similar time to the excellent RPO Dorati Beethoven 5.

I remember chatting to the engineer as the Beethoven 5 recording was being cut on the Scully lathe.

[gradus]

My personal favourite remains Menuhin and the RPO.