This 2007 reissue in Decca's The Originals series features
Georg Solti in his prime, conducting stirring renditions of
Edward Elgar's concert overture; In the South (Alassio), Op. 50; and the Symphony No. 1 in A flat major, Op. 55, brilliantly served up by the
London Philharmonic Orchestra. It's hard to go wrong with
Solti's performances of post-Romantic music; while he is best remembered for his
Wagner and
Mahler recordings, his repertoire was broad enough to include
Elgar's major orchestral works. In the South, inspired by
Elgar's 1903-1904 visit to the Italian Riviera, opens the album with heroic vigor and vibrant splashes of orchestral color, evoking the tone poems of
Richard Strauss. This is an entertaining work that works well as an appetizer, but the main course is obviously the Symphony No. 1, a deeply felt piece that is more personally expressive and characteristic of
Elgar's style.
Solti took pains to study
Elgar's 1930 recording of the symphony and found that many of his interpretive ideas closely matched the composer's; and since the
London Philharmonic Orchestra was well-versed in this work, having recorded it many times under other conductors, the conditions seemed right for this 1972 session. For many, this is an ideal recording of the symphony: clear-headed in vision, free of sentimentality, and sparkling in sound, though others will still prefer the 1976 EMI recording with the same orchestra under
Adrian Boult, which has a somewhat more nostalgic atmosphere and a gentler approach.