Adiran Boult

Sir Adrian Boult conducts with plenty of vim and vigour, the Elgarian grand sweep is present and correct and Boult's grasp of the symphonies' architecture never falters. Boult's Lyrita readings are more dynamically expressive than his EMI recordings in that there is more intensity and a greater sense of urgency - dynamic thrust! Boult takes great care over moulding and shaping phrases, the music's ebb and flow captivates the listener and the reflective moments - the First Symphony's Larghetto is sublime - are incredibly moving - full of Brahmsian warmth - as Boult generates a sense of nostalgia and loss - loss of Empire…

The continuing collaboration of SOMM Recordings and Lani Spahr has produced another exciting release of long forgotten and neglected recordings, which highlight Sir Adrian Boult's life-long championing of the music of Edward Elgar. The label remains grateful, as ever, to Spahr for resurrecting these lost treasures and for his sterling work on sound restoration.

The continuing collaboration of SOMM Recordings and Lani Spahr has produced another exciting release of long forgotten and neglected recordings, which highlight Sir Adrian Boult's life-long championing of the music of Edward Elgar. The label remains grateful, as ever, to Spahr for resurrecting these lost treasures and for his sterling work on sound restoration.

Boult never became a superstar; he was content to be a musician. He knew how to make his authority felt by his musicians, but he did absolutely nothing to call attention to himself. He did not throw tantrums, he did not choreograph his movements on the podium, and he never failed to show respect to both the music he performed and the musicians who responded so splendidly to his clearly expressed wishes.

Emil Gilels, along with fellow Russian artists, Sviatoslav Richter, David Oistrakh and Mstislav Rostropovich represented four of the greatest artists of the 20th Century. These live performances from London's Royal Festival Hall in 1967 capture Gilels at his best playing in front of an audience away from the confines of the studio. William Mann in the Times wrote after the concert of Concerto No.3, "For all his truly Beethovian brio in the first movement, Gilels never allowed this to get the better of the clarity and firmness of his phraseology, indeed his opening was like chiselled stone. There was immense dignity in the Largo and in the Rondo, taken at what I thought to be exactly the right speed, came across with remarkable vivacity". These archive recordings in stereo are extremely rare and have never been issued before.

The continuing collaboration of SOMM Recordings and Lani Spahr has produced another exciting release of long forgotten and neglected recordings, which highlight Sir Adrian Boult’s life-long championing of the music of Edward Elgar. The label remains grateful, as ever, to Spahr for resurrecting these lost treasures and for his sterling work on sound restoration.
On 17 February, 1918, in wartime London, a twenty-eight year old Adrian Boult visited the home of Sir Edward Elgar to discuss details for a performance of In the South that Boult was to conduct for the first time at Queen’s Hall the following evening. In 1944, in the midst of another war, Boult would again conduct the concert overture in a broadcast performance with the BBC Orchestra. SOMM Recordings is proud to include this performance on its release, Boult’s Elgar — The Forgotten Recordings.

The continuing collaboration of SOMM Recordings and Lani Spahr has produced another exciting release of long forgotten and neglected recordings, which highlight Sir Adrian Boult’s life-long championing of the music of Edward Elgar. The label remains grateful, as ever, to Spahr for resurrecting these lost treasures and for his sterling work on sound restoration.
On 17 February, 1918, in wartime London, a twenty-eight year old Adrian Boult visited the home of Sir Edward Elgar to discuss details for a performance of In the South that Boult was to conduct for the first time at Queen’s Hall the following evening. In 1944, in the midst of another war, Boult would again conduct the concert overture in a broadcast performance with the BBC Orchestra. SOMM Recordings is proud to include this performance on its release, Boult’s Elgar — The Forgotten Recordings.

Sir Adrian Boult Neither as colorful a public figure as fellow Briton Thomas Beecham, nor as stormy and commanding on the podium as some of his better-known international contemporaries, Adrian Boult nevertheless was one of Britain's foremost conductors for nearly 70 years. He championed contemporary music, introducing Holst's The Planets and Berg's Wozzeck to the British public, but his pioneering work with the BBC Orchestra, which he created and directed for 20 years, is often regarded as his signature achievement. Born to a wealthy shipowner, Boult spent his grammar school days in London at Westminster School and took to music early. At Christ Church, Oxford, Boult flourished under the guidance of conductor Hugh Allen. In addition, Boult worked with Artur Nikisch during a stay at the Leipzig Conservatory (1912-1913).