Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations has received more than sixty recordings since the first version, recorded under the baton of the composer in 1924. The first two recordings were made by the old acoustic process. Following the introduction of the microphone and electrical recording in 1925, Elgar re-recorded the work, taking advantage of the greatly increased realism of the new process. New recordings of the Variations were later made following the introduction of the long playing record in the early 1950s, and after the introduction of stereophonic recording towards the end of the decade. Details of the recordings, below, are taken from The Gramophone.[1]
| Conductor | Orchestra | Label | Date |
| The composer | untitled | HMV | 1924 |
| Sir Henry Wood | New Queen's Hall | Columbia | 1925 |
| The composer | Royal Albert Hall | HMV | 1927 |
| Sir Hamilton Harty | Hallé | Columbia | 1932 |
| Arturo Toscanini | BBC Symphony | HMV | 1935 |
| Sir Henry Wood | Queen's Hall | Decca | 1936 |
| Sir Adrian Boult | BBC Symphony | HMV | 1936 |
| Malcolm Sargent | National Symphony | Decca | 1945 |
| John Barbirolli | Hallé | HMV | 1948 |
| Walter Goehr | Concert Hall Symphony | Nixa | 1953 |
| Sir Malcolm Sargent | London Symphony | Decca | 1953 |
| Sir Adrian Boult | London Philharmonic | HMV | 1953 |
| George Weldon | Philharmonia | Columbia | 1954 |
| Arturo Toscanini | NBC Symphony | RCA | 1954 |
| Sir Thomas Beecham | Royal Philharmonic | Philips | 1955 |
| Sir John Barbirolli | Hallé | Pye | 1957 |
| William Steinberg | Pittsburgh Symphony | Capitol Records | 1957 |
| Sir Malcolm Sargent | Philharmonia | HMV | 1960 |
| Pierre Monteux | London Symphony | RCA | 1961 |
| Sir Adrian Boult | London Philharmonic | World Record Club | 1961 |
| Pierre Monteux | London Symphony | BBC | 1962[2] |
| Sir John Barbirolli | Philharmonia | HMV | 1963 |
| Colin Davis | London Symphony | Philips | 1965 |
| Sir Malcolm Sargent | BBC Symphony | BBC | 1966 |
| Constantin Silvestri | Bournemouth Symphony | BBC | 1967[3] |
| Sir Adrian Boult | London Symphony | HMV | 1970 |
| Leopold Stokowski | Czech Philharmonic Orchestra | Decca | 1972 |
| Eugene Ormandy | Philadelphia | CBS | 1972 |
| Zubin Mehta | Los Angeles Philharmonic | Decca | 1973 |
| Norman Del Mar | Royal Philharmonic | Contour | 1975 |
| Eugen Jochum | London Symphony | DG | 1975 |
| Andrew Davis | New Philharmonia | Lyrita | 1975 |
| Bernard Haitink | London Philharmonic | Philips | 1975 |
| Sir Georg Solti | Chicago Symphony | Decca | 1976 |
| Daniel Barenboim | London Philharmonic | CBS | 1976 |
| Sir Charles Groves | Royal Liverpool Philharmonic | HMV | 1978 |
| Neville Marriner | Concertgebouw | Philips | 1979 |
| Sir Alexander Gibson | Scottish National | RCA | 1979 |
| Andrew Davis | Philharmonia | CBS | 1983 |
| Vernon Handley | London Philharmonic | EMI | 1983 |
| Leonard Bernstein | BBC Symphony | DG | 1984 |
| Sir Charles Mackerras | London Philharmonic | HMV | 1986 |
| Yehudi Menuhin | Royal Philharmonic | Philips | 1986 |
| André Previn | Royal Philharmonic | Philips | 1987 |
| Andrew Litton | Royal Philharmonic | Virgin | 1988 |
| Barry Tuckwell | London Symphony | Pickwick | 1989 |
| Hilary Davan Wetton | London Philharmonic | Collins | 1989 |
| Bryden Thomson | London Philharmonic | Chandos | 1989 |
| William Boughton | English Symphony | Nimbus | 1989 |
| Leonard Slatkin | London Philharmonic | RCA | 1989 |
| Giuseppe Sinopoli | Philharmonia | DG | 1989 |
| David Zinman | Baltimore Symphony | Telarc | 1989 |
| Sir Edward Downes | BBC Philharmonic | Conifer | 1991 |
| Andrew Davis | BBC Symphony | Teldec | 1991 |
| Charles Dutoit | Montreal Symphony | Decca | 1991 |
| Sir Simon Rattle | City of Birmingham Symphony | EMI | 1992 |
| James Levine | Berlin Philharmonic | Sony | 1992 |
| Sir Neville Marriner | Academy of St Martin in the Fields | Capriccio | 1993 |
| Christopher Seaman | National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain | Classics | 1993 |
| Rolf Kleinert | Berlin Radio Symphony | Berlin Classics | 1996 |
| Sir Georg Solti | Vienna Philharmonic | Decca | 1997 |
| Adrian Leaper | Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony | Naxos | 1997 |
| George Hurst | Bournemouth Symphony | Naxos | 1998 |
| Stanisław Skrowaczewski | Saarbrücken Radio Symphony | Arte Nova | 1998 |
| Paul Daniel | London Philharmonic | Classic FM | 1999 |
| Sir John Eliot Gardiner | Vienna Philharmonic | DG | 2002 |
| Sir Mark Elder | Hallé | Hallé | 2003 |
| Sakari Oramo | City of Birmingham Symphony | CBSO | 2007 |
| Sir Colin Davis | London Symphony | LSO Live | 2007 |
| Vladimir Ashkenazy | Sydney Symphony | Exton | 2008[4][5] |
| Sir Simon Rattle | Berliner Philharmoniker | EMI | 2012[6][7] |
| Andrew Constantine | BBC National Orchestra of Wales | Orchid Classics | 2017 |
| David Bernard | Park Avenue Chamber Symphony | Recursive Classics | 2022 |
Notes
edit- ^ The Gramophone magazine[permanent dead link]
- ^ live recording, issued 2006
- ^ live recording, issued 2009
- ^ "Elgar: Enigma Variations; in the South - Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sydney Symphony Orchestra | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
- ^ "Enigma Variations: Overture in the South". Amazon.
- ^ "Elgar: Enigma Variations / Rattle · Berliner Philharmoniker". YouTube.
- ^ http://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/concert/play/2519-4[permanent dead link]