Edward Elgar's Symphony No 2 was first recorded complete in 1927 by His Master's Voice (later part of the EMI group) conducted by the composer. (Elgar had conducted a truncated version by the old acoustic process in 1924.)Lewis, Geraint. "Symphony for a King", Gramophone, September 2011, pp. 46–50 This recording was reissued on LP record and later on compact disc. There was no further recording for seventeen years, until Sir Adrian Boult made the first of his five recordings of the symphony in 1944. Since then there have been many more new recordings, the majority played by British orchestras with seven of them recorded by the London Philharmonic.
Recordings by date Conductor Orchestra Record company Date The composer Royal Albert Hall Orchestra His Master's Voice 1924 The composer London Symphony Orchestra EMI 1927 Sir Adrian Boult BBC Symphony Orchestra EMI 1944 Sir John Barbirolli Hallé Orchestra EMI 1954 Sir Adrian Boult London Philharmonic Orchestra Nixa 1956 Sir Adrian Boult Scottish National Orchestra Waverley 1963 Sir Malcolm Sargent BBC Symphony Orchestra BBC 1964 (live) Sir John Barbirolli Hallé Orchestra EMI 1964 Sir John Barbirolli Boston Symphony Orchestra Music & Arts 1964 (live) Sir Adrian Boult London Philharmonic Orchestra Lyrita 1968 Sir Georg Solti London Philharmonic Orchestra Decca 1972 Daniel Barenboim London Philharmonic Orchestra CBS 1973 Sir Adrian Boult London Philharmonic Orchestra EMI 1976 Sir Alexander Gibson Scottish National Orchestra RCA 1977 James Loughran Hallé Orchestra Enigma 1979 Yevgeny Svetlanov USSR Symphony Orchestra EMI 1979 (live) Vernon Handley London Philharmonic Orchestra EMI (CFP label) 1980 Bernard Haitink Philharmonia Orchestra EMI 1984 Bryden Thomson London Philharmonic Orchestra Chandos 1986 Giuseppe Sinopoli Philharmonia Orchestra DG 1989 Leonard Slatkin London Philharmonic Orchestra RCA 1989 Yehudi Menuhin Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Virgin 1991 Jeffrey Tate London Symphony Orchestra EMI 1991 Andrew Davis BBC Symphony Orchestra Teldec 1992 André Previn London Symphony Orchestra Philips 1993 Sir Edward Downes BBC Philharmonic Naxos 1994 Sir Charles Mackerras Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Decca 1994 Sir Colin Davis London Symphony Orchestra LSO Live 2001 (live) Sir Mark Elder Hallé Orchestra Hallé July 2003 Richard Hickox BBC National Orchestra of Wales Chandos 2005 Owain Arwel Hughes National Youth Orchestra of Wales Divine Art 2006 Sir Andrew Davis Philharmonia Orchestra Signum 2007 (live) Vladimir Ashkenazy Sydney Symphony Orchestra Exton 2008 (live) Kirill Petrenko Berliner Philharmoniker Berliner Philharmoniker Digital Concert Hall 2009 (live: DVD via subscription) Tadaaki Otaka NHK Symphony Orchestra King International 2009 (live) Sakari Oramo Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra BIS 2013 Daniel Barenboim Staatskapelle Berlin Decca 2014 (live) Vasily Petrenko Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Onyx 2017 Edward Gardner BBC Symphony Orchestra Chandos 2018
Critical opinion BBC Radio 3's "Building a Library" feature has broadcast comparative reviews of all available recordings of the symphony on three occasions since the 1980s. The recommendations were as follows:Index to reviews BBC Radio 3, accessed 24 October 2010
18 May 1985, reviewer, Robert Philip: BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley 8 April 1995, reviewer, Jerrold Northrop Moore: London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Edward Elgar London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti 15 October 2005, reviewer, David Nice: BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music, 2008, gave its maximum four star rating to the Decca recording by Solti and the London Philharmonic, coupled with the First Symphony, and the EMI recording by Handley with the same orchestra.March, pp. 431 and 433
In September 2011, Gramophone in a comparative review of all recordings of the work recommended those by the composer, Thomson, Elder, and, as first choice, Boult (1968).
Notes
References March, Ivan (ed). The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music, Penguin Books, London, 2007.