Elgar and The Halle
presented by Mark Elder
Broadcast in 2004.

A series of three programmes for BBC Radio 3 in which Mark Elder, Music Director of the Halle, discusses the close relationship enjoyed by the orchestra and Sir Edward Elgar.

Programme One (Sunday 18 April, 15.30-16.00)
In this first programme, Mark Elder presents music from his own ongoing project to record all Elgar's major orchestral works for the Hallé's own CD label, and introduces recordings by two of his predecessors, both fine Elgarians .

ELGAR Falstaff (opening)
The Halle Orchestra/Mark Elder
CD HLL 7505

ELGAR Cello Concerto (part of the finale)
W H Squire (cello), The Halle Orchestra/Sir Hamilton Harty
PEARL GEMM 0050

ELGAR Introduction and Allegro, Op 47
The Halle Orchestra/Sir John Barbirolli DUTTON LABORATORIES
CDSJB 1017/A
[Recorded 12 December 1956 , Free Trade Hall, Manchester]

Programme Two (Sunday 25 April, 15.30 – 16.00)
In the second programme of the series, Mark Elder looks at the changing style of orchestral playing through three varied approaches to Elgar's most popular masterpiece, the `Enigma Variations', recorded in 1932, 1956 and 2003. There's also an excerpt from `The Dream of Gerontius', recorded by the Hallé's wartime chief conductor, Sir Malcolm Sargent.

ELGAR Variations on an original theme ( Enigma ), Op 36
1 The theme
The Halle Orchestra/Sir Hamilton Harty
BBC BBCCD 756
[Recorded March 1932]

ELGAR Variations on an original theme ( Enigma ), Op 36
5 R.P.A 6 Ysobel 7 Troyte
The Halle Orchestra/Mark Elder HALLE
CDHLL 7501
[Recorded 2003]

ELGAR Variations on an original theme ( Enigma ), Op 36
4 R.B.T 5 W.M.B 6 R.P.A
The Halle Orchestra/Sir Hamilton Harty
BBC BBCCD 756
[Recorded March 1932]

ELGAR Take me away (from The Dream of Gerontius , Op 38)
Heddle Nash (tenor), The Halle Orchestra/Sir Malcolm Sargent
CD HLT 8001
[Recorded March 1932]  

ELGAR Variations on an original theme ( Enigma ), Op 36
9 Nimrod
The Halle Orchestra/Sir John Barbirolli
EMI CDM 763955-2
[Recorded 21 & 23 June 1956, Free Trade Hall, Manchester]

Programme Three (Sunday 2 May, 15.30-16.00)
The Hallé has often turned to the music of Elgar on important occasions, and in the last programme of the series Mark Elder introduces music from three such occasions: the re-opening of the Free Trade Hall after the Second World War; the last concerts Sir John Barbirolli gave with the orchestra, and the launch of the Hallé's own CD label.

ELGAR Land of Hope and Glory
Kathleen Ferrier (contralto), The Halle Choir and Orchestra/Sir John Barbirolli
BBC BBCL 4100-2
[Recorded 16 November 1951, Free Trade Hall, Manchester]

ELGAR Symphony No 1 in A flat major, Op 55 (3rd movement: Adagio )
The Halle Orchestra/Sir John Barbirolli BBC LEGENDS
BBCL 4106-2
[recorded 24 July 1970, St Nichols's Chapel, King's Lynn]

ELGAR In the South (Alassio), Op 50
The Halle Orchestra/Mark Elder HALLE
CDHLL 7500
[recorded 7 July 2002, Studio 7 New Broadcasting House, Manchester]