No sooner had I written the review of the Judd disc (see below) than along comes yet another recording of Elgar's First Symphony! And yet another good one, indeed one of the best. I have always liked the Teldec sound. I have no idea what their technique is, how and where they place their microphones, but whatever they do, the result (to my ears) is always natural and unforced. The listener's ears are not wrenched towards an orchestral soloist so that the music becomes, even to only a small degree, distorted. We get the sound of the orchestra as if from the best seat in a really good hall. There may be some lack of sheer depth as a result, but that is a small price to pay for near-ideal balance.
It is also heartening to hear the BBC Symphony Orchestra playing with such a rich and mellow sound as they produce here for their Chief Conductor, Andrew Davis. His interpretation of the symphony combines the structural strengths of Boult with the poetic flair of Barbirolli, which is to say that this is more of a 'traditional' Elgar performance than that by, for instance, Slatkin.
Davis's special quality is his lively sense of rhythm. Elgar's leaping sequences sound marvellously fresh and invigorating under his baton: the march-tune in the second movement has a tinge of ferocity so that the wistfully enchanting 'river music' of the trio section becomes even more poignant. The brass playing throughout is especially good; really tense and thrilling in the climaxes of the first movement. Davis's treatment of the end of this movement is even more affecting than his conducting of the Adagio.
Which of recent recordings of this symphony by Menuhin (Virgin Classics), Slatkin (RCA), Marriner (Collins Classics), Judd and Davis would I finally recommend? It would be a close-run thing between Marriner and Davis. Marriner's disc also includes In the South whereas Davis offers lively performances of three of the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, strangely omitting the second best of the five, No. 2.'