Enigma Variations discography

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
  1. ^ The Gramophone magazine[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ live recording, issued 2006
  3. ^ live recording, issued 2009
  4. ^ "Elgar: Enigma Variations; in the South - Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sydney Symphony Orchestra | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  5. ^ "Enigma Variations: Overture in the South". Amazon.
  6. ^ "Elgar: Enigma Variations / Rattle · Berliner Philharmoniker". YouTube.
  7. ^ http://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/concert/play/2519-4[permanent dead link]