Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius, etc; Brahms: Violin Concerto; Mahler: Symphony No 1; Vaughan Williams: Symphony No 8; etc | CD review

John Barbirolli's relationship with the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, as it was then called, went back almost to the beginning of his conducting career, when, totally unknown in the US, he was invited in 1936 to conduct the first 10 weeks of the orchestra's new season. The concerts were so successful that Barbirolli was immediately offered a contract as permanent conductor, which continued until 1943, when he returned to Britain to take over the Hallé. He did eventually go back as a guest to New York, for four weeks of concerts in January 1959, from which these off-air recordings were taken. By then, he was firmly established as a great champion of British music, and his New York programmes reflected that. This performance of The Dream of Gerontius with Richard Lewis in the eponymous role anticipates the superlative studio recording Barbirolli and Lewis made together with Janet Baker five years later, though Maureen Forrester is a more than capable Angel here and the baritone, Morley Meredith, is arguably superior to his later equivalent. Barbirolli had also conducted the premiere of Vaughan Williams's Eighth Symphony (dedicated to him) three years before. There are five movements from Holst's Planets suite here, too – no Saturn and no Neptune, and ending with Jupiter – as well as symphonies by Haydn (No 88) and Mahler. The mono sound is patchy but just about serviceable, but Barbirolli fans won't worry about that.