I didn't enjoy the VW recordings in this box much with the exception of the singing in the Serenade to Music. The Wasps was rather overly manic to my ears at the start and then rather ran out of steam. The Tallis Fantasia no match for Boult or Barbirolli.
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Well, VW himself took the Wasps overture at quite a lick. But yes, Malcolm had his own ideas about how music should go and didn't like being told otherwise. I was taken aback by a massive cut in the finale of his HMV Tchaik 5 (mercifully omitted from the Warner box)
An old friend of mine who sang in the first performance of Belshazzar's Feast ( I should add he was a lot older than I!) told me that Sargent and Walton disagreed strongly at rehearsals over the last four notes, Sargent wanting a big ritardando. against the composer's wishes. The difference can be heard in their respective recordings. Sargent kept this way to the end: I recall it in his 1966 Prom performance.Comment
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