Latest stories
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Martyn Brabbins on The Dream of Gerontius (and Havergal Brian)
5th Feb 2026
The conductor discusses his new recording of Elgar's masterpiece with Huddersfield Choral Society, and reflects on how he became such an enthusiastic ambassador for the music of Havergal Brian (whose 150th birthday fell last week).
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Vasily Petrenko and the RPO hear the chimes at midnight
14th Nov 2025
An unlikely-looking diptych of Rachmaninoff's The Bells and Elgar's Falstaff puts the RPO and chorus through their paces; Vasily Petrenko brings to the surface the common ground the two works share.
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The Choral - Reflections on Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius
12th Nov 2025
As Alan Bennett and Nicholas Hytner's film about a Yorkshire choral society performing Elgar's masterpiece during World War One hits UK cinemas, artists including Edward Gardner, Roderick Williams and opera director Stephen Langridge unpack what makes the piece so special for them...
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Vasily Petrenko on Elgar and Rachmaninoff
6th Nov 2025
Ahead of the release of their debut recording on Harmonia Mundi next week, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's Music Director reflects on the parallels between two works which were premiered in 1913 - Elgar's Falstaff and Rachmaninoff's The Bells.
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Vilde Frang on Elgar
20th Oct 2025
In the wake of winning a Gramophone Award for her outstanding recording of the Violin Concerto with Robin Ticciati and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Norwegian violinist discusses how her relationship with Elgar's music has blossomed from a transformative encounter with the Serenade for Strings as a teenager.
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Paul McCreesh conducts Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius
26th Apr 2024
Using instruments from around the time of the work's premiere in 1900, Paul McCreesh and Gabrieli offer an illuminating recording that not only provides great textual clarity but also shows off the fine details of Elgar's orchestration.
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Michael Barenboim on Elgar and more
7th Mar 2024
The violinist discusses his recent recording of the Elgar concerto, his work as Dean of the Barenboim-Said Akademie, switching between violin and viola - and family values.
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John Wilson and Sinfonia of London perform music for strings by English composers
3rd Feb 2023
Following on from their 2021 album of English music for strings, John Wilson and his orchestra offer a spectacular selection of works by Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Herbert Howells, and Delius.
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Elgar's 'Viola Concerto' from Timothy Ridout
20th Jan 2023
The young British viola-player's account of the Cello Concerto as transcribed by Lionel Tertis is a compelling addition to the piece's distinguished discography on its own terms, with sensitive support from the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Martyn Brabbins.
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Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla: The British Project
13th Aug 2021
The Lithuanian conductor and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra present evocative and dramatic accounts of four works by Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Britten, and Walton.
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Renaud Capuçon on Elgar
16th Mar 2021
The French violinist talks to Katherine about recording the Violin Concerto and Sonata with Sir Simon Rattle, the London Symphony Orchestra, and Stephen Hough.
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Nicola Benedetti plays Elgar
7th Aug 2020
The Scottish-Italian violinist embraces the heart-on-sleeve qualities of a work which the composer ruefully described as 'awfully emotional', her passion and responsiveness matched by Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
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Martyn Brabbins conducts Elgar's Caractacus
29th Mar 2019
Martyn Brabbins conducts the Huddersfield Choral Society and the Orchestra of Opera North in a stirring new recording of Elgar's rarely-performed cantata, Caractacus.
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Daniel Barenboim conducts Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius
14th Jul 2017
Katherine listens to a blistering new performance of Elgar's religious masterwork, with Andrew Staples, Catherine Wyn-Rogers and Thomas Hampson.
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Steven Isserlis plays cello concertos by Elgar and Walton
19th Feb 2016
Chris listens to Isserlis's new recording of perhaps the most famous cello concerto ever written.
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Andrew Davis conducts Elgar's King Olaf
26th Jan 2015
James listens to Edward Elgar's relatively little-known cantata, based on Longfellow's poem about Olaf, the first Christian king of Norway.
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Edward Elgar
16th May 2014
James offers his thoughts on some of the very best recordings of the music of Sir Edward Elgar.
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Elgar & Carter from Alisa Weilerstein
4th Feb 2013
The American cellist worked closely with Carter (who died last year) whilst preparing his 2001 Cello Concerto, and brings a touching elegiac lyricism to the Japanese-influenced slow movement; her introverted and tender account of the Elgar is no less engaging.
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Elgar and the First World War
5th Nov 2012
Sir Andrew Davis presides over a touching account of the incidental music for The Starlight Express, whilst John Wilson champions wartime rarities including Polonia, Carillon, and Le drapeau belge*; Simon Callow narrates with gusto on both recordings.
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Two important Elgar rarities
9th Nov 2009
Sir Andrew Davis conducts The Crown of India with the BBC Philharmonic, and Roderick Williams and others explore The Fringes of the Fleet, a patriotic song-cycle setting texts by Rudyard Kipling.
