David Stewart wrote:

>I will get the [Elgar] Violin Conceto next.  Recommendations?

One of the classics is the Menuhin with Elgar.  It's mono, of course, and
maybe not the one to start with for this reason, unless you aren't fussy
about sound, but you should hear it some time.  I don't care for Menuhin's
stereo recording with Boult.  He doesn't play as well, and that's just one
objection to a performance I could never get into.  I like Zukerman's with
Barenboim.  Zuckerman has a sweet sound and is probing without being overly
demonstrative.  The whole performance seems subsumed into the long Elgarian
line, and the technical parts roll off the string as part of the line.  I
don't care for his remake with Slatkin.  He seems disinterested and the
whole thing lacks ardor.  Hugh Bean (EMI) is self effacing, with a small
lyrical sound that is not too intense.  His style is relaxed and his pace
leisurely; sometimes it is actually limpid, but it never lags.  Bean's
technique serves the music.  This is gentle playing, understated but not
undercharacterized, and he has some interesting things to say.  Dimitri
Sitkovetsky's is another self-effacing performance.  His sound is small,
but dark, and very complex.  His aproach to the music is internalized,
almost chamberlike at times and he has more intensity that Bean lacks.
Kyung Wa Chung gives a good, lightweight performnce, in the middle ground
in terms of intensity and probing.  Dong-Suk Kang on Naxos has a terrific
technique (though there are a few pitch problems) and he handles the Elgar
style well, if not with the last word of expression or subtlety.  His sound
is bright, and when he plays loudly in the high register, it can get
steely.  He is recorded too close.  Kennedy recorded it twice, the first
time with Vernon Handley.  He has a beautiful, dark tone and impeccable
tecunique.  It's all pretty straightfoward without much personality.
Kennedy's second recording with Simon Rattle is far different.  He is much
freer than before, but it is not certain that Rattle is always in sympathy.
There is something almost improvisatory about all this.  Kennedy is more
internal in his phrasing than before, changing the line, etc.  Some parts
are almost jazzy.  Takezawa can't seem to make up her mind: the opening
starts off slowly, then speeds up to a fast tempo.  Then when the big
lyrical theme comes in on the violin, the tempo is very slow.  It might
work if it weren't so self-indulgent.  I hear more technique than insight,
and she could use a more solid Elgarian than Colin Davis.  Izhtak Perlman
seems bent on turning Elgar into Tchaikovsky.

My stereo favorite I save for last, mainly because it is such a
controversial choice.  I adore Haendel's EMI with Boult, now on Testament.
Tempos are very slow, and the performance is very romantic.  Many object
to this, but to me, she is the one who is in tune with what I hear in
the piece.  Assuming that Elgar meant what he said in his recording with
Menuhin, this may not have been so, I suppose, but Elgar was said to vary
his approach when conducting, and we basically caught this one performance,
so who knows.  (Though to be honest, I don't think he was in favor of such
romantic performances of his music.  Which doesn't make his word gospel.
We like what we like in a performance, and that sometimes flies in the face
of what the composer prefers.) Anyway, there could not be more different
recordings than Haendel and the first Menuhin, and I love both of them.

In terms of reviews, aside from my own odd views, I recall seeing good
reports on the second Kennedy, Chung, Sitkovetsky, Kang, Bean, the first
Zuckerman, and the first Menuhin. (Another good historical is Sammons.)

Roger Hecht