Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto received its first complete recording in 1928. A truncated version had been recorded under the composer's supervision, using the acoustic recording process, but it was not until the introduction of electrical recording in the mid-1920s that large orchestral works of this kind could be adequately put on disc. All the recordings up to 1963 were monaural. The first stereophonic studio recording, by Jacqueline du Pré, the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir John Barbirolli, has remained in the catalogues continuously since its first release, and is still used by many as a touchstone.[1]
| Soloist | Orchestra | Conductor | Label | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beatrice Harrison | Symphony Orchestra | Sir Edward Elgar | HMV | 1919/1920 | |
| Beatrice Harrison | New Symphony Orchestra | Sir Edward Elgar | HMV | 1928 | |
| W H Squire | Hallé Orchestra | Sir Hamilton Harty | Columbia | 1930 | |
| Gregor Piatigorsky | New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra | John Barbirolli | Somm | 1940 (live recording) | |
| Pablo Casals | BBC Symphony Orchestra | Sir Adrian Boult | EMI | 1945 | |
| Anthony Pini | London Philharmonic Orchestra | Eduard van Beinum | Decca | 1950 | |
| Paul Tortelier | BBC Symphony Orchestra | Sir Malcolm Sargent | EMI | 1954 | |
| Pierre Fournier | Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester | Hans Rosbaud | Archipel | 1955 | |
| André Navarra | Hallé Orchestra | Sir John Barbirolli | Pye | 1957 | |
| Mstislav Rostropovich | Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra | Natan Rakhlin | Revelation | 1958 (live recording) | |
| Jacqueline du Pré | BBC Symphony Orchestra | Sir Malcolm Sargent | Pristine Audio | 1962 (live recording) | |
| Jacqueline du Pré | BBC Symphony Orchestra | Sir Malcolm Sargent | Intaglio | 1963 (live recording) | |
| Jacqueline du Pré | BBC Symphony Orchestra | Sir Malcolm Sargent | BBC Legends | 1964 (live recording) | |
| Mstislav Rostropovich | Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra | Gennadi Rozhdestvensky | Russiandisc | 1964 (live recording) | |
| Mstislav Rostropovich | London Symphony Orchestra | Gennadi Rozhdestvensky | BBC Legends | 1965 (live recording) | |
| Jacqueline du Pré | London Symphony Orchestra | Sir John Barbirolli | EMI | 1965 | |
| Pierre Fournier | Berliner Philharmoniker | Alfred Wallenstein | DG | 1967 | |
| Jacqueline du Pré | BBC Symphony Orchestra | Sir John Barbirolli | Testament | 1967 (live recording) | |
| Mstislav Rostropovich | London Symphony Orchestra | Gennadi Rozhdestvensky | Intaglio | 1967 (live recording) | |
| Vladimir Orloff | Hallé Orchestra | Sir John Barbirolli | Doremi | 1968 (live recording) | |
| Zara Nelsova | BBC Symphony Orchestra | Charles Groves | BBC Radio Classics | 1969 (live recording) | |
| Jacqueline du Pré | Philadelphia Orchestra | Daniel Barenboim | CBS | 1970 (live recording) | |
| Paul Tortelier | London Philharmonic Orchestra | Sir Adrian Boult | EMI | 1972 | |
| Paul Tortelier | BBC Symphony Orchestra | Sir Adrian Boult | BBC Legends | 1972 (live recording) | |
| Erling Blöndal Bengtsson | Iceland Symphony Orchestra | Jean-Pierre Jacquillat | Danacord | 1973 (live recording) | |
| James Whitehead | Adelaide Symphony Orchestra | Carl Pini | SAREC | 1975 | |
| Ralph Kirshbaum | Scottish National Orchestra | Sir Alexander Gibson | Chandos | 1979 | |
| Robert Cohen | London Philharmonic Orchestra | Norman Del Mar | EMI | 1980 | |
| Lynn Harrell | Cleveland Orchestra | Lorin Maazel | Decca | 1981 | |
| Heinrich Schiff | Staatskapelle Dresden | Sir Neville Marriner | Philips | 1985 | |
| Yo-Yo Ma | London Symphony Orchestra | André Previn | Sony | 1985 | |
| Julian Lloyd Webber | Royal Philharmonic Orchestra | Yehudi Menuhin | Philips | 1986 | |
| Felix Schmidt | London Symphony Orchestra | Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos | Carlton Classics / LSO Live | 1988 | |
| Steven Isserlis | London Symphony Orchestra | Richard Hickox | Virgin | 1988 | |
| Paul Tortelier | Royal Philharmonic Orchestra | Sir Charles Groves | RPO Records | 1988 | |
| Rivka Golani (viola) | Royal Philharmonic Orchestra | Vernon Handley | Conifer | 1988[2] | |
| Alexander Baillie | BBC Philharmonic | Edward Downes | Conifer | 1989 | |
| Mischa Maisky | Philharmonia Orchestra | Giuseppe Sinopoli | DG | 1990 | |
| Truls Mørk | Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra | Michel Tabachnik | Lyrinx | 1990 | |
| Michaela Fukačová | Filharmonie Brno | Libor Pešek | Supraphon | 1991 | |
| Robert Cohen | Royal Philharmonic Orchestra | Sir Charles Mackerras | Argo | 1991 | |
| Maria Kliegel | Royal Philharmonic Orchestra | Michael Halász | Naxos | 1992 | |
| János Starker | Philharmonia Orchestra | Leonard Slatkin | RCA | 1992 | |
| Torleif Thedéen | Malmö Symfoniorkester | Lev Markiz | BIS Records | 1992 | |
| Colin Carr | BBC Philharmonic | Yan Pascal Tortelier | BBC Music Magazine | 1992 | |
| Françoise Groben | Orchestre Symphonique de RTL | Leopold Hager | Banque Générale du Luxembourg | 1994 | |
| Karina Georgian | Moscow Symphony Orchestra | Konstantin Krimets | Amadis | 1994 | |
| Arto Noras | Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra | Jukka-Pekka Saraste | Finlandia | 1994 | |
| Shauna Rolston | Calgary Symphony Orchestra | Mario Bernardi | CBC Records | 1995 | |
| Yoohong Lee | Royal Philharmonic Orchestra | Yehudi Menuhin | Royal Philharmonic Orchestra | 1995 | |
| Julian Lloyd Webber | BBC Philharmonic | Yan Pascal Tortelier | BBC Music Magazine | 1997 | |
| Kalina Krusteva | Bulgarian Radio Symphony Orchestra | Boris Hinchev | Gega | 1999 | |
| Pieter Wispelwey | Radio Filharmonisch Orkest | Jac van Steen | Channel Classics | 1999 | |
| Truls Mørk | City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra | Sir Simon Rattle | Virgin | 1999 | |
| Erling Blöndal Bengtsson | Oslo-Filharmonien | Alexander Lazarev | Danacord | 2000 (live recording) | |
| Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra | Vag Papian | CTM | 2004 | ||
| Anne Gastinel | City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra | Justin Brown | Naïve | 2004 | |
| Li-Wei Qin | Adelaide Symphony Orchestra | Nicholas Braithwaite | ABC Classics | 2005 | |
| Raphael Wallfisch | Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra | Richard Dickins | Nimbus | 2005 | |
| Daniel Müller-Schott | Oslo-Filharmonien | André Previn | Orfeo | 2005 | |
| Heinrich Schiff | Hallé Orchestra | Sir Mark Elder | Hallé | 2006 | |
| Tamás Varga | Budapesti Filharmóniai Társaság Zenekara | Rico Saccani | BPO live | © 2007 | |
| Natalie Clein | Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra | Vernon Handley | EMI | 2007 | |
| Jian Wang | Sydney Symphony Orchestra | Vladimir Ashkenazy | ABC Classics | 2008 | |
| Jamie Walton | Philharmonia Orchestra | Alexander Briger | Signum | 2008 | |
| David Aaron Carpenter (viola) | Philharmonia Orchestra | Christoph Eschenbach | Ondine | 2008 | |
| Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt | NDR Radiophilharmonie | Gabriel Feltz | Sony | 2009 | |
| Allison Eldridge | Royal Flemish Philharmonic | Muhai Tang | Denon | 2009 | |
| István Várdai | Orchestre de chambre de Genève | Simon Gaudenz | Ysaÿe Records | 2009 | |
| Sol Gabetta | Danish National Symphony Orchestra | Mario Venzago | RCA | 2010 | |
| Paul Watkins | BBC Philharmonic | Sir Andrew Davis | Chandos | 2011 | |
| Antonio Meneses | Northern Sinfonia | Claudio Cruz | Avie | 2012 | |
| Alisa Weilerstein | Staatskapelle Berlin | Daniel Barenboim | Decca | 2012 | |
| Jean-Guihen Queyras | BBC Symphony Orchestra | Jirí Belohlávek | harmonia mundi | 2012 | |
| Zuill Bailey | Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra | Krzysztof Urbański | Telarc | 2013 | |
| Li-Wei Qin | London Philharmonic Orchestra | Zhang Yi | ABC Classics | 2014 | |
| Hitomi Niikura | Yamagata Symphony Orchestra | Norichika Iimori | Art Infini | 2015 | |
| Steven Isserlis | Philharmonia Orchestra | Paavo Järvi | hyperion | 2015 | |
| Sol Gabetta | Berliner Philharmoniker | Sir Simon Rattle | Sony | 2016 | |
| Johannes Moser | Orchestre de la Suisse Romande | Andrew Manze | Pentatone | 2016 | |
| Nadège Rochat | Staatskapelle Weimar | Paul Meyer | Ars | 2016 | |
| Hai-Ye Ni | Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra | Raymond Harvey | Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra | 2016 | |
| Kim Cook | St Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra | Arkady Shteinlucht | MSR Classics | 2016 | |
| Gary Hoffman | Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège | Christian Arming | La Dolce Volta | 2017 | |
| Wen-Sinn Yang | Taiwan Philharmonic | Lü Shao-Chia | Oehms | 2017 | |
| Marie-Elisabeth Hecker | Antwerp Symphony Orchestra | Edo de Waart | Alpha | 2018 | |
| Sara Sant‘Ambrosio | Royal Philharmonic Orchestra | Grzegorz Nowak | Sebastian | 2018 | |
| Sheku Kanneh-Mason | London Symphony Orchestra | Sir Simon Rattle | Decca | 2018 | |
| Dai Miyata | BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra | Thomas Dausgaard | Dabringhaus und Grimm | 2019 | |
| Sébastien Hurtaud | New Zealand Symphony Orchestra | Benjamin Northey | Rubicon | 2019 | |
| Inbal Segev | London Philharmonic Orchestra | Marin Alsop | Avie | 2019 | |
| Giovanni Sollima | Orchestra Filarmonica della Calabria | Filippo Arlia | Brilliant | 2019 |
The BBC Radio 3 feature "Building a Library" has presented comparative reviews of all available versions of the concerto on three occasions, and recommended as follows:
The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music, 2008, gave its maximum four star rating to the 1965 du Pré/Barbirolli recording of the concerto. It awarded three stars (representing "an outstanding performance and recording") to the recordings by Casals, Gastinel, Harrell, Harrison, Isserlis, Ma, Mørk, Noras, Rostropovich (1964), Schiff (2006), Thedéen, and Tortelier (1972, studio).[3]