# Elgar's Violin Concerto



## sbmonty

Can anyone recommend a favourite recording. I listened to this for the first time yesterday and loved it. I have the Hillary Hahn recording. Perhaps a recording to contrast hers if you are familiar with her recording? 
Thanks!
I'm going to be exploring Elgar's late chamber works next.


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## Bettina

sbmonty said:


> Can anyone recommend a favourite recording. I listened to this for the first time yesterday and loved it. I have the Hillary Hahn recording. Perhaps a recording to contrast hers if you are familiar with her recording?
> Thanks!
> I'm going to be exploring Elgar's late chamber works next.


I recommend Itzhak Perlman's recording.


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## hpowders

OP: Sure. ANY of Yehudi Menuhin's performances. The violinist was a favorite of Elgar's and Menuhin's performances are all in a class alone.

The young Menuhin actually recorded the concerto with Elgar himself conducting in 1932.


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## Dr Johnson

For a recent(ish) recording try James Ehnes.

For a contrast to the 1932 Menuhin/Elgar recording you could try Albert Sammons.


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## hpowders

Sammons was the first to record the Elgar Concerto.


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## Dr Johnson

hpowders said:


> Sammons was the first to record the Elgar Concerto.


Indeed. In 1929. He also made an acoustic recording of it in 1916.


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## lluissineu

My first choice in violin concertos, even though it may be not The best one. 

If I'm not wrong I have only three versions (compared to more than 10 of Tchaikovsky or Mendelssohn n 2.

Zukerman/Barenboim, Perlman/Barenboim and Menuhin/Elgar. I always listen to Perlman/Barenboim. So I'd recommend this one (as Far as I'm aware) like Betina.


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## sbmonty

Thanks to all. I read that Menuhin was only 16 or 17 when Elgar chose him. That sounds very interesting. I also read that Znaider recorded it in 2010 using Menuhin's same instrument. 
Nigel Kennedy seems to be well regarded also?


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## hpowders

sbmonty said:


> Thanks to all. I read that Menuhin was only 16 or 17 when Elgar chose him. That sounds very interesting. I also read that Znaider recorded it in 2010 using Menuhin's same instrument.
> Nigel Kennedy seems to be well regarded also?


Menuhin's final recording of the Elgar Concerto was with Sir Adrian Boult conducting. It is well worth seeking out.


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## hpowders

sbmonty said:


> Thanks to all. I read that Menuhin was only 16 or 17 when Elgar chose him. That sounds very interesting. I also read that Znaider recorded it in 2010 using Menuhin's same instrument.
> Nigel Kennedy seems to be well regarded also?


I have the Kennedy performance. Menuhin/Boult is the one.


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## Pugg

For me: Nikolaj Znaider (violin)/ Staatskapelle Dresden, Sir Colin Davis.
Almost unbeatable.


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## ShropshireMoose

It's a wonderful concerto and no collection should be without the Albert Sammons performance, you can get it cheaply in an excellent transfer on Naxos, coupled with Sammons' equally authoritative interpretation of the Delius Concerto (which was written for him.) Sammons performed the work hundreds of times with Elgar conducting, and it was only because they were contracted to different recording companies (Sammons - Columbia, Elgar - HMV) that he didn't conduct on this one. The Menuhin recording with Elgar is good, but Sammons seems to get much more to the heart of the matter. Menuhin was not chosen by Elgar, he was chosen by Fred Gaisberg the HMV producer. Menuhin was very much the wunderkind who was selling vast numbers of records for HMV, so it made good commercial sense to have him on board, he also, incidentally had first choice as to which takes would be issued. Good as that recording is, one cannot help but wish that HMV had been able to persuade Kreisler (the dedicatee and first performer of the concerto) to record it with Elgar, it was down to HMV not recording the concerto with Kreisler that Barbirolli refused to make a recording of it for them in later years!!
Other recordings that are well worth investigating as well as the splendid Menuhin/Boult already mentioned, are the one Alfredo Campoli made with Boult in 1954, the sweetness of his tone in the second movement is a joy to hear. Then there's Nigel Kennedy with Vernon Handley, and of more recent recordings the one I've particularly enjoyed is Gil Shaham with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra/David Zinman. I haven't heard the James Ehnes recording, but heard him play it in concert with the CBSO and Andris Nelsons and it was very good indeed. One of the finest performances that I've got in my collection is a live one from 1959 by Alan Loveday with BBCSO/Sargent, it came from a reel to reel tape a friend of mine had and is out of this world, in fact the playing sounds so like Kreisler (plenty of portamento etc.) that I almost wondered whether Loveday had decided to try and give a reading as near to Kreisler as he could imagine, it's very, very fine indeed, alas that the sound quality of the recording isn't brilliant, but I wouldn't be without it for the world, one can but hope that perhaps the BBC has a copy in their archives and may one day release it.........


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## Animal the Drummer

hpowders said:


> Sammons was the first to record the Elgar Concerto.


He was, and for my money no-one ever did it better. This is the recording I'd go for.


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## Joachim Raff

Choice#1









Choice#2


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## EvaBaron

I haven’t seen this being mentioned anywhere but I have only heard Heifetz/Sargent


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## RobertJTh

Sammons and young Menuhin are great but not as a primary choice due to the very limited sonics. The Elgar VC is a work that, like a Mahler symphony, has a wealth of orchestral colors, and an early electric recording can't possibly convey all the indispensable details. Of course when you know the work well enough, said recordings can deepen your listening experience.
So at first, I'd go for a (fairly) modern version like Kennedy/Handley (a classic, still holds up very well) or the more controversial Znaider/Davis, which offers exciting new insights in the score.


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