2PD13 Sargent's Enigma
Sir Malcolm Sargent is remembered as a great choral
conductor. Many of the older generation can recall
him conducting vast choruses singing Handel,
Mendelssohn or Coleridge Taylor in the Royal Albert
Hall. His reputation as an orchestral conductor is
marred by stories of his attitude towards the
musicians in orchestras. However his recorded
legacy, on this disc mainly with the London
Symphony Orchestra, demonstrates a musical
intellect at work. If he takes liberties then they
are for justifiable musical reasons. The disc
starts with a stately Overture to Handel's
Messiah [listen]
and closes with the Pastorale Symphony [listen]
from the same work. Between these statements are
his interpretations of Elgar's Enigma Variations (a
work he conducted often) [listen],
a suite of dances from the dramatic music of
Purcell arranged by Albert Coates [listen],
Holst's Perfect Fool Ballet Music [listen]
and Coleridge Taylor's Othello Suite [Listen].
The Enigma Variations and music by Purcell is
presented in One Sound The brilliance,
clarity and presence of these recordings made by
the legendary balance engineer Kenneth Wilkinson
spurred the remastering team lead by Simon Heyworth
at Super Audio Mastering to reproduce on compact
discs a sound which when played through a single
loudspeaker either directly in front of the
listener or from a corner reflex cabinet will
propel the listener into the Kingsway Hall with its
live acoustic, and the London Symphony orchestra of
the 1950s. It sounds pretty good through two
speakers, but the advantage of using a single
speaker is that you will hear the original balance
without any phase problems or side effects.
| "Another welcome
return, Sir Malclom Sargent's Enigma
Variations with the London Symphony Orchestra,
extrovert, well juddged and in Nimrod,
noble, presented on a well transferred Beulah
CD in company with Albert Coates' Purcell
Suite and a menu of Handel, Holst and
Coleridge-Taylor from some years earlier.
Nostalgia with a good musical pedigree."
-Robert Cowan in Gramophone December
2007 |
Although no longer available on compact disc you can download the tracks for only £0.79 each
or £7.99 for the whole disc
from[iTunes
Plus]
This album is not available for sale to North
America
|
We're backing Britain
