Elgar Enigma Variations Op. 36 - Purcell Suite For Strings - Sir John Barbirolli

 

Purcell - Suite For Strings

Elgar - Enigma Variations

Purcell - Suite For Stings (Arr. Barbirolli)

The Halle Orchestra

Conducted by Sir John Barbirolli

Cover Photo by Radford Bascome

Back cover photo of Sir John Barbirolli

High Fidelity Olympian Living Presence

Mercury Records MG 50125

Released in cooperation with The Pye Group Of Companies

From the back cover: Notes and Hi-Fi Facts About This Recording

Hans Richter, who led the premiere of Enigma Variations, was one of the first conductors of the Halle Orchestra. Under his direction (1900 - 1911) Richter not only enhanced the technique of orchestral performance, and left his fingerprints on the classical tradition, but also commanded respect for Elgar and Richard Strauss. Apart from the uncertain World War II days, the stature of the Halle Orchestra has grown steadily and now ranks with the world's greatest musical organization.

In 1943 Sir John Barbirolli accepted the post of permanent conductor of the Halle Orchestra and is currently engaged in the continuing project of new exclusive Mercury Living Presence recordings.

For this recording, as for Vanughan Williams's Symphony No. 8 (MG50115), a special recording truck, complete with Fairchild tape machines, was brought to Manchester, England. The recordings were made at the Free Trade Hall in June 1956. The Enigma Variations, with their full exploitation of all the various instrumental choirs, and the delightful Purcell Suite – both contrasting pieces – provide an impressive demonstration of the versatility of the single microphone Living Presence recording technique.

From Billboard - December 15, 1956: The presence of a sensuous-faced young lady on the cover is somewhat enigmatic in its own right, but certainly an attention-getter. There are several good versions of the reasonably popular Elgar work, with Toscanini the name-leader. Barbirolli's is elegant, with excellent sound. To many connoisseurs, however, the flip will be the attraction, especially to those who recall his 1939 Philharmonic. Oddly, this side is ever more hi-fi-genic than the more modern Elgar work.