Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto received its first complete recording in 1928. A truncated version had been recorded under the composer's supervision, using the acoustic recording process, but it was not until the introduction of electrical recording in the mid-1920s that large orchestral works of this kind could be adequately put on disc. All the recordings up to 1963 were monaural. The first stereophonic studio recording, by Jacqueline du Pré, the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir John Barbirolli, has remained in the catalogues continuously since its first release, and is still used by many as a touchstone.March, p. 424
Recordings by date Soloist Orchestra Conductor Label DateBeatrice HarrisonSymphony OrchestraSir Edward ElgarHis Master's Voice1919/1920Beatrice HarrisonNew Symphony OrchestraSir Edward ElgarHis Master's Voice1928W H SquireHalléSir Hamilton HartyColumbia1930Gregor PiatigorskyNew York Philharmonic-SymphonyJohn BarbirolliSomm1940 (live recording)Pablo CasalsBBC SymphonySir Adrian BoultEMI1945Anthony PiniLondon PhilharmonicEduard van BeinumDecca1950Paul TortelierBBC Symphony Sir Malcolm SargentEMI1954Pierre FournierKölner Rundfunk-SinfonieorchesterHans RosbaudArchipel1955André NavarraHallé Sir John BarbirolliPye1957Mstislav RostropovichMoscow PhilharmonicNatan RakhlinRevelation1958 (live recording)Jacqueline du PréBBC Symphony Sir Malcolm SargentPristine Audio1962 (live recording)Jacqueline du PréBBC Symphony Sir Malcolm SargentIntaglio1963 (live recording)Jacqueline du PréBBC Symphony Sir Malcolm SargentBBC Legends1964 (live recording)Mstislav RostropovichMoscow Philharmonic Gennadi RozhdestvenskyRussiandisc1964 (live recording)Mstislav RostropovichLondon Symphony Gennadi RozhdestvenskyBBC Legends1965 (live recording)Jacqueline du PréLondon Symphony Sir John BarbirolliEMI1965Pierre FournierBerlin PhilharmonicAlfred WallensteinDG1967Jacqueline du PréBBC Symphony Sir John BarbirolliTestament1967 (live recording)Mstislav RostropovichLondon Symphony Gennadi RozhdestvenskyIntaglio1967 (live recording)Vladimir OrloffHallé OrchestraSir John BarbirolliDoremi1968 (live recording)Zara NelsovaBBC Symphony Charles GrovesBBC Radio Classics1969 (live recording)Jacqueline du PréPhikadelphiaDaniel BarenboimCBS1970 (live recording)Paul TortelierLondon Philharmonic Sir Adrian BoultEMI1972Paul TortelierBBC Symphony Sir Adrian BoultBBC Legends1972 (live recording)Erling Blöndal BengtssonIceland SymphonyJean-Pierre JacquillatDanacord1973 (live recording)James WhiteheadAdelaide SymphonyCarl PiniSAREC1975Ralph KirshbaumScottish NationalSir Alexander GibsonChandos1979Robert CohenLondon Philharmonic Norman Del MarEMI1980Lynn HarrellClevelandLorin MaazelDecca1981Heinrich SchiffStaatskapelle DresdenSir Neville MarrinerPhilips1985Yo-Yo MaLondon Symphony André PrevinSony1985Julian Lloyd WebberRoyal PhilharmonicYehudi MenuhinPhilips1985Felix SchmidtLondon Symphony Rafael Frühbeck de BurgosCarlton Classics / LSO Live1988Steven IsserlisLondon Symphony Richard HickoxVirgin1988Paul TortelierRoyal Philharmonic Sir Charles GrovesRPO Records1988Rivka Golani (viola)Royal Philharmonic Vernon HandleyConifer1988version with solo viola, arr. Lionel TertisAlexander BaillieBBC PhilharmonicEdward DownesConifer1989Mischa MaiskyPhilharmoniaGiuseppe SinopoliDG1990Truls MørkMonte-Carlo PhilharmonicMichel TabachnikLyrinx1990Michaela FukačováFilharmonie BrnoLibor PešekSupraphon1991Robert CohenRoyal Philharmonic Sir Charles MackerrasArgo1991Maria KliegelRoyal Philharmonic Michael HalászNaxos1992János StarkerPhilharmonia Leonard SlatkinRCA1992Torleif ThedéenMalmö SymphonyLev MarkizBIS Records1992Colin CarrBBC PhilharmonicYan Pascal TortelierBBC Music Magazine1992Françoise GrobenOrchestre Symphonique de RTLLeopold HagerBanque Générale du Luxembourg1994Karina GeorgianMoscow SymphonyKonstantin KrimetsAmadis1994Arto NorasFinnish Radio SymphonyJukka-Pekka SarasteFinlandia1994Shauna RolstonCalgary Symphony Mario BernardiCBC Records 1995Yoohong LeeRoyal Philharmonic Yehudi MenuhinRoyal Philharmonic 1995Julian Lloyd WebberBBC PhilharmonicYan Pascal TortelierBBC Music Magazine1997Kalina KrustevaBulgarian Radio Symphony OrchestraBoris HinchevGega1999Pieter WispelweyRadio Filharmonisch OrkestJac van SteenChannel Classics1999Truls MørkCity of Birmingham SymphonySir Simon RattleVirgin 1999Erling Blöndal BengtssonOslo PhilharmonicAlexander LazarevDanacord2000 (live recording)Amit Peled Jerusalem SymphonyVag PapianCTM2004Anne GastinelCity of Birmingham Symphony Justin BrownNaïve2004Li-Wei QinAdelaide Symphony Nicholas BraithwaiteABC Classics2005Raphael WallfischRoyal Liverpool PhilharmonicRichard DickinsNimbus2005Daniel Müller-SchottOslo-FilharmonienAndré PrevinOrfeo2005Heinrich SchiffHallé Sir Mark ElderHallé2006Tamás VargaBudapest PhilharmonicRico SaccaniBPO live2007Natalie CleinRoyal Liverpool Philharmonic Vernon HandleyEMI2007Jian WangSydney Symphony Vladimir AshkenazyABC Classics2008Jamie WaltonPhilharmonia Alexander BrigerSignum2008David Aaron Carpenter (viola)Philharmonia Christoph EschenbachOndine2008Wolfgang Emanuel SchmidtNDR RadiophilharmonieGabriel FeltzSony2009Allison EldridgeRoyal Flemish PhilharmonicMuhai TangDenon2009István VárdaiOrchestre de chambre de GenèveSimon GaudenzYsaÿe Records2009Sol GabettaDanish National SymphonyMario VenzagoRCA2010Paul WatkinsBBC PhilharmonicSir Andrew DavisChandos2011Antonio MenesesNorthern SinfoniaClaudio CruzAvie2012Alisa WeilersteinStaatskapelle BerlinDaniel BarenboimDecca2012Jean-Guihen QueyrasBBC Symphony Jirí BelohlávekHarmonia mundi2012Zuill BaileyIndianapolis SymphonyKrzysztof UrbańskiTelarc2013Li-Wei QinLondon Philharmonic Zhang YiABC Classics2014Hitomi NiikuraYamagata Symphony Norichika IimoriArt Infini2015Steven IsserlisPhilharmonia Paavo JärviHyperion2015Sol GabettaBerliner PhilharmonicSir Simon RattleSony2016Johannes MoserOrchestre de la Suisse RomandeAndrew ManzePentatone2016Nadège RochatStaatskapelle WeimarPaul MeyerArs2016Hai-Ye NiKalamazoo Symphony Raymond HarveyKalamazoo Symphony 2016Kim CookSt Petersburg State Symphony Arkady ShteinluchtMSR Classics2016Gary HoffmanOrchestre Philharmonique Royal de LiègeChristian ArmingLa Dolce Volta2017Wen-Sinn YangTaiwan PhilharmonicLü Shao-ChiaOehms2017Marie-Elisabeth HeckerAntwerp SymphonyEdo de WaartAlpha2018Sara Sant‘AmbrosioRoyal Philharmonic Grzegorz NowakSebastian2018Sheku Kanneh-MasonLondon Symphony Sir Simon RattleDecca2018Dai MiyataBBC Scottish SymphonyThomas DausgaardDabringhaus und Grimm2019Sébastien HurtaudNew Zealand SymphonyBenjamin NortheyRubicon2019Inbal SegevLondon Philharmonic Marin AlsopAvie2019Giovanni SollimaOrchestra Filarmonica della CalabriaFilippo ArliaBrilliant2019Sung-Won YangLondon Symphony Hans GrafDecca2025
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: 11 February 1984, reviewer, Michael Kennedy: Jacqueline du Pré (1965) 27 April 1991, reviewer, Jerrold Northrop Moore: Julian Lloyd Webber Steven Isserlis Beatrice Harrison Paul Tortelier (1998) 14 February 2004, reviewer, Richard Morrison: Jacqueline du Pré (1965) Truls Mørk (1999) Yo-Yo Ma
The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music, 2008, gave its maximum four star rating to the 1965 du Pré/Barbirolli recording of the concerto. It awarded three stars (representing "an outstanding performance and recording") to the recordings by Casals, Gastinel, Harrell, Harrison, Isserlis, Ma, Mørk, Noras, Rostropovich (1964), Schiff (2006), Thedéen, and Tortelier (1972, studio).March, pp. 424–26
Notes, references and sources Notes
References
Sources
March, Ivan (ed). The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music 2008, Penguin Books, London, 2007.