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Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings??? Posted by Benjamin Daniell on December 24, 2008, 10:57 am I have thoroughly digested Elgar's Symphonies, Concerti and miscellaneous Orchestral works, but I am unsure of how to best discographically acquire the Chamber masterpieces (allowing for couplings, etc.) - i.e. the String Quartet, Piano Quintet and Violin Sonata. Does anyone have any suggestions for reference recordings? So far, I've been equally convinced of the Naxos (Maggini/Donohoe) and EMI (with the Allegri), and the other EMI (Vellinger/Boyd) by reading Amazon user reviews; I've not read much about the Violin Sonata apart from Hope on Nimbus. I'd be interested in any advice or comments from Elgarians the world over, if you can spare the time. Is there a consensus concerning these works? Many thanks.

Re: Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings??? Posted by Len Mullenger on December 24, 2008, 12:33 pm, in reply to "Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings???" I think very highly of the Maggini Piano Quintet. You can hear extended extracts from it here http://www.zen22662.zen.co.uk/2008/July08/July_25th_2008_Elgar.htm Link: Maggini link

Re: Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings??? Posted by John Drexel on January 29, 2009, 11:08 pm, in reply to "Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings???" I love all three of these works, particularly the string quartet. Like Len, I can recommend the Maggini/Donohoe recording without any reservation. The performances and recording quality are excellent; and at the Naxos price, you can hardly afford not to buy it. In fact I have three CDs that pair Elgar's String Quartet and Piano Quintet; the other two are: Chilingarian/Roberts (EMI) Medici/Bingham (Whitehall) All three recordings give me much pleasure, but if forced (unhappily) to discard two of them, I would probably keep the Maggini/Donohoe. There are more recordings of the Elgar Violin Sonata than you might imagine, and I wouldn't fret too much over trying to select the "definitive" version. I don't have a particular favorite, but of the three admittedly lesser-known versions in my own collection--Bisengaliev/Frith (Black Box), Robertson/Bingham (Whitehall), and Kato/Eguchi (Denon)--it is the Bisengaliev/Frith disk to which I listen most often. However, that may be because of the other pieces by Elgar on the CD. (Among other rareities, the CD contains the lovely, wistful Szigeti arrangement of "Adieu," incorporating a theme from Elgar's Volin Concerto. Moreover, Bisengaliev uses Elgar's own violin and bow, which surely lends a touching authenticity to this recording.) Regards, John

Re: Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings??? Posted by Benjamin Daniell on January 30, 2009, 1:10 am, in reply to "Re: Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings???" 203.10.121.85 Thanks a lot, Len and John. I have secured the Naxos, but won't hear it until my wife returns from London. I decided to go with Kennedy on Chandos for the Violin Sonata; so many people seem to love him in the Concerto (I have Perlman) that I reasoned he would do the Sonata justice as well. (I've also got her to get me him on CfP in the Concerto too.) Thanks again for taking the time to offer your advice and suggestions.

Re: Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings??? Posted by John Drexel on January 31, 2009, 7:09 pm, in reply to "Re: Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings???" Benjamin, as a certified (or should that be "certifiable"?) Elgar nut, I'm always glad to share my thoughts about Elgar with anyone willing to listen. I look forward to learning your reactions to these works and the specific recordings in due course. I think you will be hooked by this music; the slow movement (Piacevole, poco andante) of the String Quartet is, I feel, one of Elgar's most wistful and haunting movements. (But of course Elgar's music is full of haunting and wistful moments.) Alice Elgar particularly loved this movement, which she described as "captured sunshine", and it was played at her funeral. I haven't heard (Nigel) Kennedy's recording of the Violin Sonata. I'm in a minority, I suppose, in preferring the Perlman/Barenboim CSO recording of the Violin Concerto to the Kennedy/Handley LPO version (although in almost every other case I greatly prefer Handley's Elgar to that of Barenboim). For that matter, after initially resisting it, I've become more & more partial to Heifetz/Sargent. But while I'm on this subject--and wandering off-topic, I know--you absolutely must hear Campoli's recording of the Violin Concerto (with Boult conducting). Cheers, John

Re: Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings??? Posted by Benjamin Daniell on March 30, 2009, 1:02 pm, in reply to "Re: Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings???" Hi John. It's taken me a while to reply but I thought I would this minute as I am currently listening to what is now one of my most favourite Violin sonatas - it's none other than Elgar's. I'm in the Finale and it's about to quote the theme from the central section of the Romance. I have the recording of Nigel Kennedy on Chandos, and even though I heard Vengerov's rendition (last week), I can't expect any other performance to surpass it. Nigel was my first and most probably my last for this work. It's outstanding - the work, that is. I've also enjoyed the Piano Quintet, and String Quartet (Maggini on Naxos), but keep coming back to the Sonata. I guess the Quintet is more appealing than the Quartet at present, but they're both definitely keepers. I am trying to track down the Campoli/Boult Concerto but am not sure where to look - is it the version on EMI from the mid 50s? Or another label, like Beleuah? Would appreciate your input here if you look at these pages much. Thanks for your interest and advice. Ben

Re: Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings??? Posted by chris howell on March 30, 2009, 3:18 pm, in reply to "Re: Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings???" 213.215.159.57 The Campoli/Boult Elgar Concerto was originally on Decca. I reviewed this for MusicWeb in a Beulah set called Visions of Elgar, you can search for full details on the site. Chris Howell

Re: Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings??? Posted by Barry Coward on April 9, 2009, 12:42 pm, in reply to "Re: Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings???" I am pleased to tell you "Visions of Elgar" box set is still available and Campoli's version of the Violin Concerto can be purchased as a single disc entitled "The Art of Campoli" . Both discs are published by Beulah and distributed by Priory Records (UK) and Shun Cheong Record Co (HK). Campoli is very popular in China. By the way "Visions of Elgar" also includes Anthony Pini's fine reading of the cello concerto.

Re: Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings??? Posted by John Drexel on March 30, 2009, 9:03 pm, in reply to "Re: Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings???" Ben, glad to know that you are enjoying the violin sonata. I still find the string quartet the most affecting of Elgar's three major chamber works, but I'll have to revisit my recordings of the violin sonata. As Chris Howell noted, the Campoli/Boult recording of the violin concerto is on the Beulah label; Chris's review here on MusicWeb indicates that it was reissued, though I don't know if it's still available, or where. I was lucky to buy my copy of the CD some years ago at the budget classical annexe of the now defunct Tower Records store in New York City. I enjoy many different recordings of the Elgar violin concerto, but to my ear, of all the violinists I've heard in the work, Campoli has the sweetest tone of all. Regards, John

Re: Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings??? Posted by John Drexel on March 30, 2009, 9:40 pm, in reply to "Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings???" Ben, just a note to let you know that there's a six-minute extract of the andante from the Campoli/Boult recording of the Elgar violin concerto on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4wGLGQ5nSI Apparently the CD is out of print but the recording can be downloaded from itunes via Beulah's website. Regards, John

Re: Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings??? Posted by Peter on April 1, 2009, 4:25 pm, in reply to "Re: Elgar's Chamber Music: definitive recordings???" 86.135.68.137 Campoli's recording of the Elgar VC is still available on a single Beulah CD: http://www.eavb.co.uk/lp/4pd10.html coupled with a very fine Mendelssohn performance.

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