Excellent if imperfect
It's hard not to like Elgar -- his music is tuneful, bombastic in all the right ways, and has an air of ceremony that somehow perfectly fits what British music should sound like. I guess it's just that Elgar defines "British" music.

There are certainly highlights in this set -- Falstaff and the Cello Concerto are so good that I think any other performance I'll ever hear of either of them will be ruined because they won't compare. The oratorios The Dream of Gerontius and The Apostles as presented are widely considered the best out there. And I haven't heard better. There's plenty more here to enjoy even if they're not absolutely authoritative.

I don't like Barbirolli's interpretation of the symphonies -- he takes the "noble" themes in both symphonies and slows them down, probably thinking that stretching them out emphasizes their gloriousness. He does this in the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, too. It's pretentious and doesn't work. The momentum is disrupted to the point that the music is painfully dragging.

I also take issue with the remastering job. Most of the digital remastering was done 15 to 20 years ago, and it shows. The sound is not as crisp as it should be, especially among the strings. It's not terrible, but it really sticks out in the later discs (20 and beyond). It's all of the non-famous stuff, so I don't know if many people will care; some may never work their way all the way to the end.

One reason why many may get turned off by this set and never get through it is that the booklet included just lists the tracks. There's no text, libretto, biography, or explanation of the works. I recommend going to the Elgar Foundation's website to get more information about the compositions and Elgar's life. But with the exception of Gerontius, you're going to have a tough time finding libretti. It's painful to listen to 20 hours of choral works when you can't follow along.

Semi-major works like Caractacus and Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf are hard to appreciate when there's limited information about them online. They're 2 hour blurs to me -- I can't focus on them because I don't know what all the singing is about and there's virtually no way to know because the diction is so-so and the sound quality isn't crystal clear. Maybe others don't share this problem, but I get the feeling I'm not alone.

There's plenty of good here, especially in the orchestral side, to justify the price. The packaging is satisfactory -- paper sleeves for the discs in a shelf-saving format. For $50, it's what you should expect. But EMI fails to grasp that Elgar's works aren't just about the recording legacies Groves, Barbirolli, and Handley -- it should also be about Elgar himself. With a composer who wrote so much vocal and choral music, the lack of texts and biographical information is enough to take away a significant amount of appeal of this box set, regardless of its price point.

Great Bargain of Elgar Masterworks and Forgotten Gems!
Like Sony's Stravinsky set, this Elgar set from EMI seems to want to challenge the Brilliant Classics label by providing lots of music for little money. This costs more than the Stravinsky, but you get 30 cds here as opposed to the 22 in the Stravinsky set. On the average, you are paying $2 a disc, as opposed to the seperate issues listed on Amazon that are going for about $20 in some instances.
What about the performances? I have many of these works already in my collection and most are digital recordings. Two are bonafide classics: Jaqueline du Pre's Cello Concerto and Janet Baker's Sea Pictures. Problem is, many people might already have these already-this remastering was in 2004 and released as a "Great Recordings of the Century" for $12.98. Most of the orchestral works are conducted by Sir John Barbirolli. The symphonies are impressive, but I can think of better ones to use as supplements-Solti, Previn, Colin Davis and George Hurst in No.1 and Solti, Previn, Downes in No.2. Barbirolli's interpretations are rather mellower than the ones listed above and I feel that one should get to know these works through their recordings first. The smaller works fare better: Introduction and Allegro, Elegy, Sospiri, Cockaigne Overture, Serenade in E Minor. Falstaff and Froissart come in competition with Simon Rattle on EMI and Mark Elder on the Halle Orchestra's label. The Enigma Variations and Pomp and Circumstance Marches will be much appreciated for those who like the old school way of performing these works. Also note that the Barbirolli recordings are analog stereo and the quality varies from work to work. Hugh Bean's recording of the Violin Concerto was chosen instead of both of Nigel Kennedy's and Menhuin's recordings-and this was a great idea, because there is no duplication involved with my collection! Bean's recording is on the slow side which seems to be the norm nowadays. Anyone used to this should really enjoy his interpretation. He also plays the Violin Sonata. Cd 7 includes Sir Charles Groves conducting Suites: Nursery, Severn, Crown of India (with it's swaggering March of the Mogul Emperors) and Coronation March. The rest of the set has relatively unknown Elgar compositions that have been recorded sporadically, therefore upping the desirableness of this set. There are some very good digital recordings here. Although I have not listened to all of it, here are some highlights: the Coronation Ode (with its end using "Land of Hope and Glory", Gordon Jacob's orchestration of the Organ Sonata, a illustrated talk on The Apostles and The Kingdom narrated by Sir Adrian Boult, Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf, The Spirit of England, and a Elgar conducts Elgar sampler for cd 30. Even if there is duplication, this cd set has much repertoire that is hard to find, although you will be missing texts and program notes, which may be more of a detriment in the choral works with orchestra. If you already have those on other recordings you can use their texts along with this set. Maybe EMI will post texts on their web site. I will continue to sample and discover new works of Elgar as well as appreciate these performances of works that I already am familiar with.