Elgar Symphony No. 1 discography

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The first recording of Edward Elgar's Symphony No 1 was made by the London Symphony Orchestra in 1930, conducted by the composer for His Master's Voice (a label absorbed into the EMI recording group the following year). The recording was reissued on long-playing record (LP) in 1970, [1] and on compact disc in 1992 as part of EMI's "Elgar Edition" of all the composer's electrical recordings of his works. [2]

Contents

After 1931, the work had no further gramophone recordings until Sir Adrian Boult's 1950 recording (see below). During the 1950s there was only one other new recording of the symphony, and in the 1960s there were only two. In the 1970s there were four new recordings. In the 1980s there were six, and the 1990s saw twelve. Ten new recordings were released in the first decade of the 21st century. [3]

Recordings by date

ConductorOrchestraLabelRecording dateRelease date
The composerLondon Symphony Orchestra EMI 20–22 November 19301931
Sir Adrian Boult London Philharmonic Orchestra EMI19491950 [4]
Sir John Barbirolli Hallé Orchestra Pye 19541957 [5]
Sir John BarbirolliHallé OrchestraBarbirolli Society30 January 1958 (live)
Sir John Barbirolli Philharmonia Orchestra EMI19621963
Sir Adrian BoultLondon Philharmonic Orchestra Lyrita January 19681968
Constantin Silvestri Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra BBC Legends25 July 1968 (live)2006
Sir John BarbirolliHallé OrchestraBBC Legends1970 (live)2002
Sir Georg Solti London Philharmonic Orchestra Decca February 19721972
Daniel Barenboim London Philharmonic Orchestra CBS 19741974
Sir Alexander Gibson Scottish National Orchestra RCA 1976 (?)1976
Sir Adrian Boult BBC Symphony Orchestra BBC Radio Classics1976 (live)1995
Sir Adrian BoultLondon Philharmonic OrchestraEMISeptember 19761977
Vernon Handley London Philharmonic OrchestraEMI19791980
James Loughran Hallé Orchestra ASV 1981
Bernard Haitink Philharmonia OrchestraEMI19831983
Sir John Pritchard BBC Symphony OrchestraBBC Radio Classics1983 (live)1996
Vernon HandleyLondon Philharmonic Orchestra LPO 23 February 1984 (live)2010
André Previn Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Philips 19851986
Sir Colin Davis BBC Symphony OrchestraRCA13 May 1985 (live)1996
Bryden Thomson London Philharmonic Orchestra Chandos October 19851986
Yehudi Menuhin Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Virgin 1989
Sir Charles Mackerras London Symphony OrchestraDeccaApril 19901991
Leonard Slatkin London Philharmonic OrchestraRCA19901991
Sir Neville Marriner Academy of St Martin in the Fields Collins 1991
David Zinman Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Telarc January 19911992
James Judd Hallé Orchestra Pickwick 1991
Sir Andrew Davis BBC Symphony Orchestra Teldec 19911991
Giuseppe Sinopoli Philharmonia Orchestra DG 19911992
Jeffrey Tate London Symphony OrchestraEMI19911992
Tadaaki Otaka NHK Symphony Orchestra King International20 November 1991 (live)2017
George Hurst BBC Philharmonic Naxos April 19921993
Julian ClaytonChetham's Symphony OrchestraOlympia1995
William Boughton English Symphony Orchestra Nimbus June 19951995
Tadaaki Otaka BBC National Orchestra of Wales BIS 19951996
Stephen SomaryThüringen Philharmonie (Suhl)Claves19961996
Bramwell Tovey National Youth Orchestra of Scotland NYOSAugust 19971998
Sir Colin Davis Dresden Staatskapelle Hänssler Profil19982006
Sir Colin DavisLondon Symphony OrchestraLSO Live2001 (live)2002
Sir Mark Elder Hallé OrchestraHalléJuly 20022003
Sir Roger Norrington Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra Hänssler27–29 October 1999 (live)2000
Jeffrey TateMelbourne Symphony Orchestra ABC 24–25 June 2005 (live)2006
Richard Hickox BBC National Orchestra of WalesChandosMay 20062006
Martyn Brabbins Flemish Radio OrchestraGlossaSeptember 20062007
Sir Andrew DavisPhilharmonia OrchestraDecca4 March 2007 (live)2010
Sir Andrew DavisPhilharmonia OrchestraSignum12 April 2007 (live)2010
Vladimir Ashkenazy Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton20082009
Edo de WaartMilwaukee Symphony OrchestraMSO Classics20142014
Vasily Petrenko Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Onyx20102015
Tadaaki Otaka Sapporo Symphony Orchestra Fontec8-11 November 2012 (live)2013
Hilary Davan Wetton National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain2015
Daniel BarenboimStaatskapelle BerlinDecca19 & 21 September 20152016
Sir Antonio Pappano Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia ICA Classics2012 (live)2016
Edward Gardner BBC Symphony OrchestraChandos20162017
Joseph Wolfe Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra Livenotes21-22 April 2017 (live)2017
Sir Mark ElderHalléHallé20182024
Tadaaki Otaka Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra Exton17-18 & 22 January 2019 (live)2019

Critical opinion

BBC Radio 3's "Building a Library" feature, a comparative review of all available recordings, has considered the symphony three times since 1982, recommending as follows:

The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music , 2008 edition, awarded its maximum four star rating ("a really exceptional issue on every count") to Solti's LPO set (coupled with the Second Symphony) and Barbirolli's final 1970 recording (coupled with the Introduction and Allegro ). The Guide's three star rating ("an outstanding performance and recording") was given to both of the EMI recordings by Boult, and to Colin Davis (LSO Live), Hurst, Elder, and Handley. [11]

References

March, Ivan (ed). The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music, Penguin Books, London, 2007. ISBN   978-0-14-103336-5

Notes

  1. ↑ Reviews [ permanent dead link ] The Gramophone , December 1970, p. 120
  2. ↑ Reviews, Archived 2012-08-01 at archive.today Gramophone, December 1992, p. 92
  3. ↑ Gramophone archive
  4. ↑ Originally issued on 78 r.p.m. discs. Transferred to LP in 1953. Issued on CD (Testament) in 2001.
  5. ↑ Issued on CD (Dutton) in 2000.
  6. ↑ Boult recording "Building a Library" BBC CD Review archive, 23 January 1982
  7. ↑ Handley recording "Building a Library" BBC CD Review archive, 23 January 1982
  8. ↑ Hurst recording "Building a Library" BBC CD Review archive, 23 April 1994
  9. ↑ Composer's recording "Building a Library" BBC CD Review archive, 23 April 1994
  10. ↑ Davis recording "Building a Library" BBC CD Review archive, 17 March 2007
  11. ↑ March, pp. 431–32
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