Barbirolli was aged
between 63 and 67 when he made these
recordings and had only four more years
to live after the latest sessions. He
brought to his Elgar a lifetime of associations
which included being amongst the earliest
solo proponents of the Cello Concerto.
He knew the composer and had his imprimatur
as a result of conducting the Second
Symphony in 1927. That these tapes were
made in the 1960s when Elgar’s music
still stood in the unwarrantedly mired
reputation of imperial bombast is all
the more remarkable.
While this bargain
set is presented with the typically
spartan minimalism of this well loved
series you are not short-changed on
quality. The recordings are excellent
1960s EMI vintage and the rewardingly
detailed essay is by Lyndon Jenkins.
The Introduction and Allegro and
Serenade are from the illustrious
Sinfonia of London sessions originally
issued on ASD 521; vinyl that seemed
destined to remain forever in the catalogue
and at full price. This is their first
ever appearance at bargain price and
they add decisively to the attractions
of this set. Rangy, poignant and full-blooded
playing is yours for the taking in the
Introduction and Allegro. There’s
a wondrous analogue depth to the recording
which captures the throaty attack of
the massed strings. Incredibly this
was Barbirolli’s sixth and final recording
of the work. Isn’t this the recording
exhilaratingly used by Ken Russell in
his Elgar film: the final titles with
the camera mounted in a car accelerating
up the hill roads?
Babrirolli’s reading
of the First Symphony sometimes feels
as if it has lead weights attached,
at least in the first movement. It would
be an eccentric sole representative
but it is of the type that easily engenders
enormous affection. It has a special
plangency and lustre greatly assisted
by the harp’s underpinning, captured
even in moments of notable climax. No
surprises there as EMI’s team proved
a decade later with the harp figuration
refulgently heard in Birmingham for
the Walton-Frémaux coronation
marches. The Second Symphony has the
same virtues and faults. Barbirolli
relishes every moment – and there is
pleasure in that for the listener too.
This lacks the headstrong potency of
the Solti/LPO Decca which remains both
watershed and reference disc as much
as Barbirolli does for the Introduction
and Allegro. Once again however
the recording proclaims its high calling
in capturing the violins’ ‘fugitive
gleam’ for example in the second movement
at 2:20 and also the assertive grandiloquent
bloom of the horns. The strolling legato
of the finale is lovingly paced and
as well judged as the pregnant gait
Barbirolli mints for the opening of
the First Symphony. The stereo separation
and other spatial qualities excitingly
enhance the bold and noble brass-string
dialogues from 4:10 onwards in the finale.
The climax with that swaying asymmetrical
syncopation at 8:50-8:53 still has the
power to get you on your feet.
Barbirolli’s Falstaff
has the impetuous qualities of its
subject, dissolute, quixotic, rash (quite
a lot of that), given to humour, poetry,
affectionate lechery and self-pity.
This is a reading as full of unruly
life as Robert Nye’s portrayal of Falstaff
or in Orson Welles film The Chimes
at Midnight. The conductor, himself
a cockney, knew and loved Elgar’s London
as reflected in Cockaigne and
delivers an impetuous and loving reading
which in this case does not dawdle (2:12).
That shiver of youthful panache can
also be felt in the early Froissart
overture – presumably its first
recording since the composer’s own.
As with Falstaff the recording
of Enigma is generously tracked
so that you can find your way around
with ease. While this does not have
the momentum of the Beecham version
(BMG-Sony) – a personal favourite –
it is grand and expansive and most artistically
recorded. The marches are crackingly
done and Nos. 2 and 4 stand out in this
company for their gruffly spick and
span rigour. That said I still rate
Norman Del Mar’s recording with the
RPO very highly indeed for its vivid
character (DG-Universal).
The final disc of the
five is an exact copy of another well-loved
EMI LP (ASD 655) with a phenomenally
long life at full price in the EMI catalogue.
Janet Baker, caught in her early prime,
is matchless in the Sea Pictures
making, with her sincerity and naturally
pellucid enunciation, a masterful impression
of a work that is not out of Elgar’s
top drawer. The Du Pré Cello
Concerto is also most beautifully and
passionately done and is generally reckoned
a reference version. For me it lacks
the sheer voltage overload of her irresistible
version made live in 1970 with her husband
conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra
(BMG-Sony). Like all these recordings
these two nevertheless stand as testimony
to the velvet and satin translucency
of the now-demolished Kingsway Hall;
almost as much of a loss as Barbirolli
himself.
Looking back we have
now adjusted to the imbalances of the
Elgar-Barbirolli heritage. There’s no
Violin Concerto. Such a pity he did
not record the concerto in the 1960s
with the then still fiery Ida Haendel
– rather than the honour falling to
an elderly Boult when the flames were
reduced to a glimmer (Testament). We
also missed In the South (although
there is a BBC Legends CD of a radio
broadcast from circa 1970) a piece which
should surely have suited Barbirolli’s
Italian blood if the Introduction
and Allegro is anything to go by.
As it is, the crown for that work belongs
with Constantin Silvestri and the Bournemouth
Symphony Orchestra – another EMI treasure
– a true Great Recording of the Century.
I should add that I recently heard the
Sinopoli version on DG and was impressed.
This box is a commanding
Christmas bargain. Readings that are
still exciting, eccentrically blighted
and blessed, magnificent and suffused
with radiant personality.
Rob Barnett
Information received
From Martin Walker:
Rob Barnett says "The Introduction
and Allegro and Serenade are from the
illustrious Sinfonia of London sessions
originally issued on ASD 521; vinyl
that seemed destined to remain forever
in the catalogue and at full price.
This is their first ever appearance
at bargain price". The whole recording
with the Sinfonia of London (Greensleeves
& all) was reissued on a GROC some
time ago. Review
From Christopher
Howell: re your review of the Elgar/Barbirolli
set, alas I'm afraid you're wrong in
presuming that his Froissart was the
first since Elgar's own. Boult recorded
it on ALP 1379, issued in 1956 and coupled
with Dream Children and the P&C
Marches. It lasted in the catalogue
till 1968, i.e. just after the Barbirolli
was issued.
Personally, I'd hesitate to claim publicly
that even this was the first since Elgar's,
though I daresay it was.
Janet Baker (mezzo) (op. 37); Jacqueline du Pré
(cello) (op. 85) 
