Favourite Sargent recordings.

[salymap]

I still admire quite a few of Malcolm Sargent's recordings. His Ma Vlast with the RPO and the Dvorak Symphonic Variations with the Philharmonia, his Elgar symphonies with the BBCSO, the 1945 and 1954 Gerontius recordings, his slightly Beechamesque way with light-hearted overtures like Donna Diana, many others.

If I've got it right, he died 44 years ago today and his recordings are showing their age. However he could turn out some good work IMO.

Does anyone else have any favourites?

[amateur51]

I still admire quite a few of Malcolm Sargent's recordings. His Ma Vlast with the RPO and the Dvorak Symphonic Variations with the Philharmonia, his Elgar symphonies with the BBCSO, the 1945 and 1954 Gerontius recordings, his slightly Beechamesque way with light-hearted overtures like Donna Diana, many others.

If I've got it right, he died 44 years ago today and his recordings are showing their age. However he could turn out some good work IMO.

Does anyone else have any favourites?

Sargent's Enigma Variations was my first LP interpretation salymap & I loved it. Ditto his earlier Gerontius with Heddle Nash which is my all-time favourite. We had a double LP of Messiah at my parents' home in a snazzy (not a word you hear these days!) blue plastic folder on the Pye label conducted by Sargent too. Many fond memories of a fine conductor whose performances at the Proms on the radio introduced me to so much of the repertoire.

Ooooh and a performance of Elgar's Cello concerto with a very young and urgent Paul Tortelier, found at a sale

[formbyman]

The Dvorak Cello Concerto with Tortelier has long been a favourite of mine, in fact it was my introduction to this work.

[aeolium]

I like some of Sargent's G&S performances, especially the Yeomen of the Guard. Also I recall enjoying some Mozart concertos recorded with Schnabel (though I have only heard them on 78!) I think Schnabel may have played his own cadenzas in K467.

[Barbirollians]

The Elgar and Walton concertos with Heifetz.

[Thomas Roth]

Prokofiev 1.

[Ariosto]

I think many of the responses to this thread sort of prove to me that MS was a good accompanist and seemed to be liked by a lot of the great players of the past. I've never liked his purely orchestral offerings that much, but I was probably put off as a younger person attending Proms in the late
1950's and early 1960's where everything seemed to get churned into mud.

This was unlike Boult who was a hopeless accompanist but performed some great interpretations of orchestral music.

[Ferretfancy]

I think that his BBC SO recording of the Planets reveals the strangeness of Holst's music in a rather special way which is hard to define. This was one of EMI's first stereo releases, and still sounds impressive.
His Beni Mora is also excellent, as is the Perfect Fool Ballet music, which was coupled on LP with sprightly performances of suites from Walton's Facade.
There was a nice performance of Peter and the Wolf with Ralph Richardson, which incidentally was sold in aid of the Sargent Cancer Fund for Children.

Sargent was an excellent accompanist for Schnabel's Beethoven concertos, and what about his collaboration with Heifetz in Vieuxtemps and Bruch ?

[mikealdren]

The Elgar and Walton concertos with Heifetz.

Yes, Sargent worked well with Heifetz although I think you'll find his Walton recordings were with Goosens and Walton himself. I particularly like their Bruch concerto (no 1). I would like to have seen them
working together, an interesting partnership I should think.

I also enjoy Sargent's Huddersfield Messiah and quite a lot of his G&S, old fashioned but none the worse for that and his love of the music shines through.

Mike

[Ariosto]

Just to clarify, Mike, the Walton was with Goosens and the Cincinnati SO - and the Elgar with Sargent. The Vieuxtemps No 5 was with Sargent, and the Bruch No 1 - all with the LSO.

Other British conductors recording with Heifetz include of course John Barbirolli, and Tommy Beecham.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Judging by the number of his recordings in the department library, my Music Teacher at school was a Sargent enthusiast. I first heard many of the "standard repertoire" from his performances: the Ma Vlast Sals mentions, the Enigma an RVW selection (including the Serenade to Music) Messiah Elijahand, IIRC, a very good Sibelius Second.

I have the Smetana and Elgar (both on rather poor quality cassette tapes) but the only CD I have with him conducting is his orchestration of the Brahms Four Serious Songs with Ferrier, which I shall hunt out and play tonight to commemorate this anniversary.

Best Wishes.

[aeolium]

I think many of the responses to this thread sort of prove to me that MS was a good accompanist

That was certainly my impression from the recordings of his I have listened to - I haven't heard him in purely orchestral works.

[Barbirollians]

I stand corrected .

I cannot agree that Boult was a hopeless accompanist . His Dvorak Concerto with Rostropovich and Elgar with Menuhin are enough to disprove that assertion for me .

[Ariosto]

I cannot agree that Boult was a hopeless accompanist . His Dvorak Concerto with Rostropovich and Elgar with Menuhin are enough to disprove that assertion for me .

Were they studio recordings? If so, they might have been able to patch in any dodgy bits.

But many times when I heard him live accompanying Menuhin and others he made a pigs ear of it, and this was born out the many times I played for him where things came adrift in live concerts.

I'm not having a vendetta against AB, I played many purely orchestral works with him (and apart from new contemporary pieces) he was a fine interpreter. It's just that he could be a bit accident prone. Forgivable as he was a fine musician, with a great sense of humour, even if it was disguised.

[salymap]

I can't write much as back is really 'out' and can't sit or type for long. Have started doing something about it and am ringing about hosp xray tomorrow.

I've enjoyed reading these posts and agree he was sought after by many good soloists. RVW and Walton asked him to do premieres in the early days but he probably told them how to write their next work and they went off him. { Hugh the Drover RVW and Belshazzar's Feast Walton for example]