Sir Adrian Boult Anniversary

[BBMmk2]

On this day on 22/02/1983 Sir Adrian Boukt passed away. What is your favourite recording? I think mine is Elgar Symphony No.2.

[LMcD]

So many to choose from, but I particularly admire the BBC Music Magazine recording of the Elgar 1st symphony from the Proms - it never fails to bring a lump to my throat.

[visualnickmos]

So many to choose from, but I particularly admire the BBC Music Magazine recording of the Elgar 1st symphony from the Proms - it never fails to bring a lump to my throat.

Indeed, there are; His Dvorak cello concerto with Rostropovich comes to mind, but really i find it impossible to single out one recording above another. The Elgar 1st, is awonderful performance. The intensity is palpable.

[pastoralguy]

No problem with this one!

The Tchaikovsky Third Suite with the LPO and Rodney Friend playing the violin solo in the Theme & Variations movement.
Absolutely marvellous performance with a slightly fallible orchestra giving their all to their maestro!

[BBMmk2]

No problem with this one!

The Tchaikovsky Third Suite with the LPO and Rodney Friend playing the violin solo in the Theme & Variations movement.
Absolutely marvellous performance with a slightly fallible orchestra giving their all to their maestro!

I’ll have a listen!

[Pabmusic]

... What is your favourite recording? I think mine is Elgar Symphony No.2.

He made five - which one? I'd go for 1956 (Nixa) or 1975 (HMV).

[Conchis]

His early seventies Brahms cycle is very good. One of the best, I'd argue.

[Pabmusic]

His early seventies Brahms cycle is very good. One of the best, I'd argue.

Quite agree. It began by chance. He'd recorded the Enigma and lots of RVW with the LSO, and finished early, with time to spare. He elected to record Brahms #, which he did (that's why it's the LSO, not the LPO. The first movement was in one take.

[Conchis]

Vaughan-Williams Pilgrim's Progress is a work that will never be widely accepted, despite Boult's advocacy but I do cherish the rehearsal extract which is an added extra on the CD. It gives a valuable insight into Boult's phlegmatic personality.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

His early seventies Brahms cycle is very good. One of the best, I'd argue.

That was what immediately occurred to me when I read the OP (after an alarming moment checking my calendar) - the two Serenades included.

Boult is a conductor whose work I have come to appreciate only in the past 10 years or so - when I was younger, I hated his later EMI recordings, and found them incredibly dreary. I still prefer the recordings from the '50s and earlier (the Elgar #2 from the 1940s in particular, and the [mainly] DECCA RVW cycle) - but discovering the power and insights of the later recordings (the Schubert "Great" Symphony, too - so many keep coming to mind) has been one of the great pleasures of my middle age.

[Tony Halstead]

Quite agree. It began by chance. He'd recorded the Enigma and lots of RVW with the LSO, and finished early, with time to spare. He elected to record Brahms #, which he did (that's why it's the LSO, not the LPO. The first movement was in one take.

Brahms Symphony #3

[HighlandDougie]

No problem with this one!

The Tchaikovsky Third Suite with the LPO and Rodney Friend playing the violin solo in the Theme & Variations movement.
Absolutely marvellous performance with a slightly fallible orchestra giving their all to their maestro!

Seconded! An absolute delight.

[pastoralguy]

His early seventies Brahms cycle is very good. One of the best, I'd argue.

Of course! I heard the SNO under Sir Alexander Gibson play the Second Symphony in 1978 and borrowed the Boult/LPO tape from my local library which I then played until it broke! The lady in the library was awfully nice about it!

A marvellous performance. In fact, I'm sure the same thing happened with Schubert No.9!

[BBMmk2]

He made five - which one? I'd go for 1956 (Nixa) or 1975 (HMV).

1975 it was!

[jayne lee wilson]

Those recently-mentioned Schumann Symphonies and Berlioz overtures would be a great choice - mid-50s- stereo, Nixa-Westminster, latterly First Hand, CDs now expensive but Qobuz have the download/stream...