Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto was first recorded complete in 1929. Truncated versions had been recorded in 1916 using the acoustic recording process, the technical limitations of which necessitated drastic rearrangement of the score. Electrical recording, introduced in the 1920s, gave a greatly improved dynamic range and realism, and the two leading English record companies, Columbia and His Master's Voice both made recordings of the concerto that remain in the catalogue. The first was made for Columbia by Albert Sammons with the New Queen's Hall Orchestra conducted by Sir Henry Wood. Elgar's own recording with the young Yehudi Menuhin followed three years later. Since then there have been more than twenty-five further recordings, featuring British and international performers.
Recordings by date Soloist Orchestra Conductor Label DateAlbert SammonsunnamedSir Henry WoodColumbia1916Marie HallunnamedSir Edward ElgarHis Master's Voice1916Albert SammonsNew Queen's Hall OrchestraSir Henry WoodColumbia1929Yehudi MenuhinLondon Symphony OrchestraSir Edward ElgarHis Master's Voice1932Jascha HeifetzLondon Symphony OrchestraSir Malcolm SargentHis Master's Voice1949Alfredo CampoliLondon Philharmonic OrchestraSir Adrian BoultDecca1954Yehudi MenuhinNew Philharmonia OrchestraSir Adrian BoultEMI1966Aldo FerraresiOrchestra Sinfonica RAI MilanoPietro ArgentoRhine Classics1966Gidon KremerBelgian National OrchestraRené DefossezDiscothèque Nationale de Belgique1967Yehudi MenuhinLondon Philharmonic OrchestraSir Adrian BoultBBC1969Hugh BeanRoyal Liverpool Philharmonic OrchestraCharles GrovesEMI1972Pinchas ZukermanLondon Philharmonic OrchestraDaniel BarenboimCBS1976Kyung-Wha ChungLondon Philharmonic OrchestraSir Georg SoltiDecca1977Ida HaendelLondon Philharmonic OrchestraSir Adrian BoultEMI1978Itzhak PerlmanChicago Symphony OrchestraDaniel Barenboim DG1981Igor OistrakhMoscow State Symphony OrchestraValentin ZhukOlympia1984Nigel KennedyLondon Philharmonic OrchestraVernon HandleyEMI1984Ida HaendelBBC Symphony OrchestraSir John PritchardBBC1986Dmitry SitkovetskyRoyal Philharmonic OrchestraSir Yehudi MenuhinVirgin1990Dong-Suk KangPolish National Radio Symphony OrchestraAdrian LeaperNaxos1991Salvatore AccardoLondon Symphony OrchestraRichard HickoxCollins Classics1991Pinchas ZukermanSt. Louis Symphony OrchestraLeonard SlatkinRCA1992Kyoko TakezawaBavarian Radio Symphony OrchestraSir Colin DavisRCA1993Leland ChenArnhem Philharmonic OrchestraLord MenuhinUpbeat1994Nigel KennedyCity of Birmingham Symphony OrchestraSir Simon RattleEMI1997Ilya GrubertMoscow Symphony OrchestraVladimir ZivaVista Vera2003Hilary HahnLondon Symphony OrchestraSir Colin DavisDG2004Philippe GraffinRoyal Liverpool Philharmonic OrchestraVernon HandleyAvie2006James EhnesPhilharmonia OrchestraSir Andrew DavisOnyx2007Gil ShahamChicago Symphony OrchestraDavid ZinmanCanary2008Nikolaj ZnaiderDresden StaatskapelleSir Colin DavisRCA2010Thomas ZehetmairHallé OrchestraSir Mark ElderHallé2010Tasmin LittleRoyal Scottish National OrchestraSir Andrew DavisChandos2010Marat BisengalievWest Kazakhstan Philharmonic OrchestraBundit UngrangseeNaxos2011Catherine ManoukianStaatskapelle WeimarStefan SolyomEdel2013Rachel Barton PineBBC Symphony OrchestraAndrew LittonAvie2018Ning FengRoyal Liverpool Philharmonic OrchestraCarlos Miguel PrietoChannel Classics Records2018Thomas Albertus IrnbergerRoyal Philharmonic OrchestraJames JuddGramola2019Alda DizdariMusica Viva OrchestraAlexander WalkerMellos Records2020Nicola BenedettiLondon Philharmonic OrchestraVladimir JurowskiDecca2020Triin RuubelEstonian National Symphony OrchestraNeeme JärviSorel Classics2020Renaud CapuçonLondon Symphony OrchestraSir Simon RattleErato, Warner Classics2021Michael BarenboimPhilharmonia OrchestraAlessandro CrudeleLinn Records2023Vilde FrangDeutsches Symphonie-Orchester BerlinRobin TicciatiWarner Classics2024Nicolas DautricourtBBC National Orchestra of WalesFrédéric ChaslinChannel Classics Records2025Christian TetzlaffBBC Philharmonic OrchestraJohn StorgårdsOndine2025
Critical opinion The BBC Radio 3 feature "Building a Library" has presented comparative reviews of all available versions of the concerto on three occasions, and recommended as follows:
15 October 1994, reviewer, Michael Kennedy: Kyoko Takezawa, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis BBC Radio 3, accessed 24 October 2010 Yehudi Menuhin, London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Edward ElgarMenuhin "Building a Library" BBC Radio 3, accessed 24 October 2010 10 July 1999, reviewer, Iain Burnside: Albert Sammons, New Queen's Hall Orchestra, Sir Henry WoodSammons "Building a Library" BBC Radio 3, accessed 24 October 2010 Pinchas Zukerman, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Daniel BarenboimZukerman "Building a Library" BBC Radio 3, accessed 24 October 2010 14 January 2012, reviewer, Martin Cotton: Yehudi Menuhin, London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Edward Elgar Thomas Zehetmair, Hallé Orchestra, Sir Mark Elder"Elgar Violin Concerto" BBC podcast, 14 January 2012
The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music, 2008, gave its maximum four star rating to none of the recordings of the concerto. It awarded three stars (representing "an outstanding performance and recording") to the recordings by Graffin, Heifetz, Kang, Kennedy (1984 and 1997), Menuhin (1932 and 1966), and Sammons (1929).March, pp. 425–28
Notes
References March, Ivan (ed). The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music, Penguin Books, London, 2007.