The performance of the main work emanates from a live concert held in the Royal Albert Hall during May 1985, on which occasion Sir Colin Davis and members of the BBC SO requested that all fees and subsequent royalties be donated to Oxfam. It is a warmly idiomatic, spontaneous account, accorded decent, if rather distanced sound. I would not prefer it to either of the Halle versions (with James Loughran or James Judd) within the same price range, but all admirers of this conductor will want to hear it.
The appealing couplings comprise a lively Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 from Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops, and Charles Munch’s characterful 1957 Boston SO recording of the Introduction and Allegro (an immensely spirited reading for which I have always had an especial fondness). On the whole, this budget-priced Elgar compilation strikes me as well worth its modest outlay.'