01. In the South. Concert overture, op.50 'Alassio' [22'04]
02. - 05. Symphony No. 2 in E-flat major, op.63 [55'09]
BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Richard Hickox
Chandos SACD CHSA5038 (recorded in May 2005; SACD/CD issued 2005)
(rip from SACD; 24bit/96kHz flacs, booklet, cover and inlay scans)
Recording venue: Brangwyn Hall, Swansea
Recording engineer: Ralph Couzens; Producer Brian Couzens
In the past, I have not been a great fan of the late Richard Hickox, other than as a choral conductor, but I have been impressed by his Vaughan Williams symphony recordings that I have heard and it's the same with his Elgar.
This is a fine performance of the symphony with generally conventional tempi - other than the opening of the first movement which is quite swift. And Hickox divides the first and second violins, left and right - always an advantage and usually adopted by Adrian Boult unless he was forced otherwise by intransigent producers. The performance of the preceding In the South is very dramatic with the central Canto popolare beautifully done.
Excellent sound recording here in this rip from SACD which I have converted to 24bit/96kHz flacs (not my rip - many thanks to the original uploader). And Hickox again gets excellent playing from his orchestra in the fine acoustic of Brangwyn Hall.
Aficionados of bad reviewing will be delighted to hear that David Hurwitz gave the disc a very tepid review.
Because of the large size of the files, I have posted them in a folder and you can select how many to download at one time.
Download from MEGA.