It's the perky Scherzo—crisply accented, with notably flexible strings and responsive winds—which marks the high-spot of James Loughran's Halle version of Elgar's mighty First Symphony. True, Loughran's clear-sighted reading overall doesn't realistically challenge the supremacy of that beknighted trio of Boult, Barbirolli and Solti in this music, but it does have hard-working enthusiasm and honest application in its favour—I warm to its genuine, homely manners. John Boyden's full-blooded late-1970s production is lacking something in ambient warmth, though the bass drum is certainly captured with impressive aplomb throughout. In other words, this likeable enterprise (here making its belated first appearance on CD) strikes me as definitely worth checking out at bargain price; let's hope the same conductor's dignified Halle Elgar Second won't be too long in following. A lively (if hardly compelling) Cockaigne from Owain Arwel Hughes and the Philharmonia forms an agreeable enough postscript.'