Did Oistrakh Record the Elgar?

October 8, 2004 at 06:40 AM · Mr. Perlman has a very good recording too.

October 8, 2004 at 12:17 PM · David never recorded it. Igor did.And Sammons and Heifetz are the best versions around.

October 9, 2004 at 09:05 PM · I think Menuhin was the first, or one of the first to record this one. I know I've heard him on this one, but on LP, i dunno if its on CD

October 10, 2004 at 12:44 AM · Menuhin's is on CD in several labels. Sammon's was previous

October 10, 2004 at 03:14 PM · I find that the Perlman recording is by far the best.

October 10, 2004 at 03:23 PM · I think that Perlman's sense of musicality was far better than I have ever heard.

October 10, 2004 at 09:52 PM · Marie hall was the first to record it in 1916, although this is a really terrible recording, and I don't think it is easily available.

October 10, 2004 at 11:03 PM · Hi Bernard,

Getting to the specifics of your question, it appears that David Oistrakh did not make a commercial recording of the Elgar - certainly none that I have found after ploughing through the catalogue. I agree with your summation regarding Oistrakh and the heavyweight concertos - should such a performance ever appear I would very much like to grab it myself.

As for the question regarding Sammons, I have made a brief mention of this particular recording in the Hilary Hahn thread that relates to her own recent release of this concerto.

The Sammons recording pre-dates the Menuhin effort by 3 years (1929) and was recorded when Sammons was at the peak of his prime, aged 43 years. It is coupled with a later recording of the Delius, which is a formible performance musically, but unfortunately by that time Sammons had passed his prime - his bow control becoming a little suspect and his vibrato and shifting lacking the control of his earlier years.

I personally consider the Sammons to be a benchmark recording of the Elgar - for starters, apbsolutely everything to do with the recording is British. Additionally, I feel that at 43 years old, Sammons was musically mature enough to understand this concerto. His technique at the time was quite adequate in order to convey his musical ideas.

In summary, if you already have Menuhin and Heifetz, then there is no reason not to buy the Sammons as well - all three performances are quite distinct from one another.

To expand on my previous point, one of the best selling points of the Sammons recording is that it is coupled with the Delius concerto - this is a concerto that - like Tubin's concertos - is *terribly* under-rated and neglected. The slow movement in particular is a masterpiece. In fact I am desperately hoping that Hilary Hahn might be persuaded to record it some time in the future - if not only for the reason that very modern recordings of it are extremely thin on the ground to non-existent. Additionally, her manner of tone production is, I feel, ideally suited to this work.

Of the modern Elgar performances, the new release by Hilary Hahn is my favourite and this recording cotinues to grow on me the more I listen to it. Although I only ever heard Itzhak Perlman's recording once, that is also a very good recording.

October 11, 2004 at 03:13 AM · Usually I dislike Nigel Kennedy's playing, but he is very good in the Elgar, and many other distinguished violinists agree on that. I'll ask my teacher if he ever saw or heard that David Oistrakh played the Elgar, since he studied in Russia with Oistrakh.

October 11, 2004 at 06:56 AM · Isabelle von Keulen perfomed the Elgar concerto here in Helsinki last week and it was very good! She had a pretty good sound, but not amazing. She's no Perlman. She had also perfect intonation, but her violin was tuned slightly sharp to the orchestra.

I don't know if she has ever recorded it.

Lauri

October 12, 2004 at 12:31 AM · Oistrakh did perform the Elgar, in a concert series titled "The Development of the Violin Concerto", I believe. I'm fairly certain this was the same venue in which premiered the Khachaturian concerto.

October 12, 2004 at 01:33 AM · I just found a recording of Kyung Wha Chung online, and from listening to just little parts of it, I can already tell it is a wonderful recording. I'm sure she brings that same fire and passion and freshness she brings to all pieces.

October 12, 2004 at 03:05 AM · Greetings,

Brian, I find Chung a very underated player. She kind of slipped off the radar screen a bit when she cut back on concerts but she is often pretty hard to beat. Only recording of hers I can`t stand is the new Brahms with Rattle. I find it slightly neurotic and also wiry in sound.

I also shelled out on a Vengerov recording (Dvorak concerto/Elgar violin sonata) for the heck of it. For the Dvorak I think if you pulled out a phrase from anywhere you would have to say `ruddy nora, that is just so musical and tehcnically flawless.` My problem was with the overall construction. By the time he finishes being a poet a lot of momentum seems ot get lost. I much prefer the Misltein version which pushes thoruhg ther er, `boring bits` of what is not exactly one of the worlds most imaginative cocnerto,

Cheers,

Buri

October 12, 2004 at 05:07 AM · I have the Elgar played by Heifetz on an old Victor 78rpm phonograph record!!!

Hahahahaha..

Sorry friends, just having fun!

Peter

October 12, 2004 at 03:47 PM · I like Zukerman's recording with Leonard Slatkin and the St. Louis Orchestra.

March 8, 2008 at 03:55 AM · I did read somewhere that Oistrakh did learn and play the Elgar around the same time as the Sibelius Concerto

March 8, 2008 at 08:05 AM · Yes, the Chung recording is wonderful.

Zukerman also made a wonderful recording with Barenboim/London Phil. around 1979. I think I still have it on LP at my parents' house - haven't heard the more recent one with Slatkin.

Didn't Nigel Kennedy record it twice?

Hilary Hahn recorded it recently also, on DG. Not my cup of tea, but terrific playing.

Finally thought of checking arkivmusic.com:

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/albumList.jsp?page_size=50&name_id1=3426&name_role1=1&comp_id=959&genre=154&bcorder=195

March 8, 2008 at 12:46 PM · There's an old recorded performance by Alfredo Campoli. I think it's still available. His interpretation and sound may not be to everyone's taste, but it is a very interesting take and is quite beautiful.

March 8, 2008 at 04:29 PM · Campoli: $40 on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002K27/sr=1-21/qid=1204993691/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1204993691&sr=1-21&seller=

March 8, 2008 at 06:04 PM · Well, I'm a big fan of Hilary Hahn...see review of her Elgar recording:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/26/arts/music/26mermelstein.html

March 18, 2008 at 02:28 AM · Campoli's version was on Beulah on a fantastic CD with the Mendelssohn-Boult (my fav version of this). It is NLA. But Beulah may have brought out the Elgar VC and coupled with the van Beinum conducted version of the Mendelssohn (much inferior to the Boult version).

March 19, 2008 at 08:06 AM · Beulah 4PD10

CAMPOLI, ALFREDO The Art Of Campoli. MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto in E minor - London Philharmonic / Eduard van Beinum. ELGAR Violin Concerto in B minor - Sir Adrian Boult. Beulah

This is now available on the net. Details above.

March 19, 2008 at 01:50 PM · For a very nice Elgar concerto performance try ALDO FERRARESI (1902-1978), conducted by Pietro Argento! One of the best performances of Elgar, by the beloved pupil of Ysaye.

You find the recordings (and many others beautiful by the same interpreter) at www.bottegadiscantica.it, searching for Aldo FERRARESI.

March 19, 2008 at 02:06 PM · I am coming in a bit late to this discussion. I have Menuhin, which I think is excellent and has the advantage of Elgar conducting. Thus, you have a great violinist plus the authenticity of Elgar's interpretation of his piece. I have not heard the Sammons, but he also played it a number of times under Elgar's direction and would understand how Elgar wanted it played. I have not listened to any of the others but assume that one by almost any top tier violinist would be worth a listen.

September 11, 2009 at 03:36 PM · Alfredo Campoli was scheduled to give a performance of the Elgar and just before the performance he was informed of the death of his mother. Let's remember that he was Italian by birth and there is that powerful mother son relationship in Italian tradition. He gave what was probably the best performance ever. I know I have it on tape! Geoffrey

September 11, 2009 at 03:49 PM ·

I've often thought it was a shame that Kreisler never got a shot to record this one.  When EMI/HMV was ready, Menuhin was deemed more commercially viable and Kreisler's playing was just starting to slip.

I did once get to perform this in a concert featuring Oscar Shumsky.  The concert didn't end up being so hot-- it was more or less at the end of Shumsky's life-- but sometimes in rehearsal Shumsky would nail a lick and I'd sort of twitch in my seat.  Sounded just like Kreisler would have, in the right places.

September 12, 2009 at 09:09 AM ·

Just to add to the discography, Hugh Bean recorded it with the Royal Liverpool orchestra. Don't think this has made it to CD. Beautiful playing.

September 12, 2009 at 10:20 AM ·

 Greetings,

Malcolm,  my first teacher at the RCM (Ken Piper) studied with Sammons.   The latter showed Ken a letter he had received from Heifetz complimenting him on his recording and saying how helpful it had been to him in approaching the work.

Cheers,

Buri

September 12, 2009 at 12:42 PM ·

Malcolm, the Bean/Groves/RLPO Elgar concerto is out on CD.  I have it in the boxed set Edward Elgar:  The Collector's Edition 30 CDs, but the CD can also be purchased alone.  Archivmusic.com has both for sale.

There is much to admire in the Bean recording.  It is quite good, although it hasn't displaced my top favorites, Menuhin's w/ Elgar, and Kennedy's 1st recording.

The Bean Elgar CD also has his recording of the Violin Sonata, with David Parkhouse.  Gorgeous performance, highly recommended!

September 13, 2009 at 10:53 PM ·

Anne, Thanks so much for the info. Just ordered it from Amazon - £8.41 including delivery.

I played for Charles Groves on a couple of occasions - excellent conductor and a fine accompanist. And Hugh Bean was a friend of the guy who conducted the local amateur orchestra I played in when I was at school. He came and played the Sibelius and Tchaikovsky concertos with us. Lovely man as well as a wonderful player.

September 14, 2009 at 11:08 AM ·

Since I'm scheduled to play the Elgar next year, this topic is very interesting for me. I know and like most  of the mentioned recordings, but would like to ask if somebody also knows the NAXOS recording by Dong-Suk Kang. His playing is full of energy, yet very accurate and respectful of the original text, technically flawless and really brilliant when it comes "down to the wire", that all makes it one of the top recordings of this work, in my opinion.