Recordings such as
these are like Mitchell & Kenyon
movies, bringing the past into vivid
and lively animation. Naxos producer
and audio restoration engineer, Mark
Obert-Thorn has done a marvellous job
with these performances: there is a
healthy and reassuring amount of surface
noise, meaning that the treble has been
faithfully kept, rather than being compressed
out of existence in a futile attempt
to create hiss-free sound. The ear quickly
becomes accustomed to this noise, which
is benign and fairly constant – so without
further ado we can move on to the music.
Having works conducted
by the composer is almost always an
enlightening and useful document. Elgar
was among the very first to have a significant
impact in terms of a recorded catalogue,
and with the fortunate timing of the
development of electrical recording
techniques in the 1920s his works could
be preserved without the restrictions
of acoustic recording, in which the
forces of an orchestra had to be drastically
cut in order to give an impression of
the music. The booklet for this CD gives
some of the background history to the
earlier 1914 recordings, which point
the way to his enthusiasm for the process
of documenting his music, and making
it available to as wide an audience
as possible.
Elgar had already gained
considerable experience of studio recording
at earlier HMV sessions, and by the
time of his recording of the Cockaigne
overture had the luxury of an Albert
Hall Orchestra which had been trained
by the great Sir Adrian Boult. One can
but imagine how the composer must have
revelled in being able to work with
such flexible music making under his
baton. Hair sharp dynamic changes, well-tempered
clarity from the inner voices and well
balanced brass and winds – all so important
in an Elgar score, and all present here
with only a very few minor compromises
in intonation and ensemble.
Elgar’s first recording
of Cockaigne had taken place
in 1926, just before the first two Pomp
and Circumstance Marches. There
is a slightly thicker level of opacity
over these recordings, but again, the
ear finds little problem in adjusting.
The orchestra plays with discipline
and energy, and one finds little difficulty
in feeling the electric effect such
music must have had on audiences of
the time. Again, there is very little
compromise in terms of performance,
and the orchestras cope well with Elgar’s
brisk tempi. The high percussion, cymbals
in particular, can sound a little strange
on occasion, and oboes often seem flat
and leathery in tone, but in general
these recordings come up surprisingly
well.
The booklet has very
little to say on the subject of ‘Enigma’
but again, it is fascinating to
hear subtle stylistic fingerprints of
a bygone age – portamento strings for
one thing, especially noticeable in
the opening ‘Theme’. Comparing timings
with Sir Adrian Boult’s own recording
with the London Philharmonic, Elgar
is consistently brisker with his tempi,
for example polishing ‘Nimrod’ off at
2:53 to Boult’s 4:37. Elgar does however
prove himself time and again to be the
most skilful advocate of his own music,
and the orchestral musicians respond
to his leadership with verve and energy.
The curiosity of the
final track, an ‘accidental stereo’
fragment of the Cockaigne Overture,
is a fascinating glimpse of what might
have been. It was common practice to
have two turntables running during the
cutting of wax master discs, one disc
being kept as a safety, or being set
at a lower cutting level in case of
peak distortions. As an exception to
the norm, one microphone was used for
each machine on this recording (as opposed
to a single microphone feeding both
machines), so, by painstakingly synchronising
both ‘takes’, Mark Obert-Thorn has managed
to reproduce all of that stereo information.
The effect is quite marked, particularly
in pointing out the acoustic in which
the orchestra is set. There is no great
‘placement’ of instruments, but there
is some spatial information, with the
sense of some instruments more to left
or right being more or less pronounced
depending on the density of the musical
texture – most certainly a significant
bonus track for those who may posses
the documented versions of these recordings
elsewhere.
Elgar was nearing the
end of his life when many of these recordings
were made, but the sense of commitment
and conviction which he generates from
the orchestras leap from your loudspeakers
– qualities today to which many aspire,
but few achieve to this extent. Bearing
in mind that each recording is a ‘live’
take, direct to a wax master, I was
consistently impressed by the quality
of the orchestral playing, and potential
purchasers should certainly look beyond
these recordings’ stuffy image as historical
relics – they are far, far more than
that. There can however be no doubting
the historical value of such recordings,
and to my ears this Naxos CD cannot
be faulted on the quality of sound which
has been produced from these pioneering
recordings – priceless!
Dominy Clements
Royal Albert Hall Orchestra ** 
