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.The Gramophone magazine
Conductor Orchestra Label DateThe composeruntitledHis Master's Voice1924Sir Henry WoodNew Queen's HallColumbia1925The composerRoyal Albert HallHis Master's Voice1927Sir Hamilton HartyHalléColumbia1932Arturo ToscaniniBBC SymphonyHis Master's Voice1935Sir Henry WoodQueen's HallDecca1936Sir Adrian BoultBBC SymphonyHis Master's Voice1936Malcolm SargentNational SymphonyDecca1945John BarbirolliHalléHis Master's Voice1948Walter GoehrConcert Hall SymphonyNixa1953Sir Malcolm SargentLondon SymphonyDecca1953Sir Adrian BoultLondon PhilharmonicHis Master's Voice1953George WeldonPhilharmoniaColumbia1954Arturo ToscaniniNBC SymphonyRCA1954Sir Thomas BeechamRoyal PhilharmonicPhilips1955Sir John BarbirolliHalléPye1957William SteinbergPittsburgh SymphonyCapitol Records1957Sir Malcolm SargentPhilharmoniaHis Master's Voice1960Pierre MonteuxLondon SymphonyRCA1961Sir Adrian BoultLondon PhilharmonicWorld Record Club1961Pierre MonteuxLondon SymphonyBBC1962live recording, issued 2006Sir John BarbirolliPhilharmoniaHis Master's Voice1963Colin DavisLondon SymphonyPhilips1965Sir Malcolm SargentBBC SymphonyBBC1966Constantin SilvestriBournemouth SymphonyBBC1967live recording, issued 2009Sir Adrian BoultLondon SymphonyHis Master's Voice1970Leopold StokowskiCzech Philharmonic OrchestraDecca1972Eugene OrmandyPhiladelphiaCBS1972Zubin MehtaLos Angeles PhilharmonicDecca1973Norman Del MarRoyal PhilharmonicContour1975Eugen JochumLondon SymphonyDG1975Andrew DavisNew PhilharmoniaLyrita1975Bernard HaitinkLondon PhilharmonicPhilips1975Sir Georg SoltiChicago SymphonyDecca1976Daniel BarenboimLondon PhilharmonicCBS1976Sir Charles GrovesRoyal Liverpool PhilharmonicHis Master's Voice1978Neville MarrinerConcertgebouwPhilips1979Sir Alexander GibsonScottish NationalRCA1979Andrew DavisPhilharmoniaCBS1983Vernon HandleyLondon PhilharmonicEMI1983Leonard BernsteinBBC SymphonyDG1984Sir Charles MackerrasLondon PhilharmonicHis Masters' Voice1986Yehudi MenuhinRoyal PhilharmonicPhilips1986André PrevinRoyal PhilharmonicPhilips1987Andrew LittonRoyal PhilharmonicVirgin1988Barry TuckwellLondon SymphonyPickwick1989Hilary Davan WettonLondon PhilharmonicCollins1989Bryden ThomsonLondon PhilharmonicChandos1989William BoughtonEnglish SymphonyNimbus1989Leonard SlatkinLondon PhilharmonicRCA1989Giuseppe SinopoliPhilharmoniaDG1989David ZinmanBaltimore SymphonyTelarc1989Sir Edward DownesBBC PhilharmonicConifer1991Andrew DavisBBC SymphonyTeldec1991Charles DutoitMontreal SymphonyDecca1991Sir Simon RattleCity of Birmingham SymphonyEMI1992James LevineBerlin PhilharmonicSony1992Sir Neville MarrinerAcademy of St Martin in the FieldsCapriccio1993Christopher SeamanNational Youth Orchestra of Great BritainClassics1993Rolf KleinertBerlin Radio SymphonyBerlin Classics1996Sir Georg SoltiVienna PhilharmonicDecca1997Adrian LeaperCzecho-Slovak Radio SymphonyNaxos1997George HurstBournemouth SymphonyNaxos1998Stanisław SkrowaczewskiSaarbrücken Radio SymphonyArte Nova1998Paul DanielLondon PhilharmonicClassic FM1999Sir John Eliot GardinerVienna PhilharmonicDG2002Sir Mark ElderHalléHallé2003Sakari OramoCity of Birmingham SymphonyCBSO2007Sir Colin DavisLondon SymphonyLSO Live2007Vladimir AshkenazySydney SymphonyExton2008Sir Simon RattleBerliner PhilharmonikerEMI2012http://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/concert/play/2519-4Andrew ConstantineBBC National Orchestra of WalesOrchid Classics2017David BernardPark Avenue Chamber SymphonyRecursive Classics2022
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