COMPOSERS: Elgar,Holst
LABELS: BBC Music Classic Collection
WORKS: The Planets
PERFORMER: BBC SO & Women’s Chorus/Malcolm Sargent
CATALOGUE NO: BBCM 5002-2 ADD Reissue (1965, 1966)
These are reissues of material originally available on Carlton’s BBC Radio Classics. The problem with that series was that too much was issued, with a few nuggets of real interest among some pretty workaday stuff which was fine for a radio broadcast, but not really worth paying money for. Unfortunately, these CDs fall into that category, which is a pity, especially with the Holst/Elgar coupling. These were both pieces at the centre of Sargent’s repertoire, and the performances certainly carry conviction, but they aren’t exciting enough to want to return to, and the recordings lack punch and detail. That’s not quite such a problem with the music on the other CD, though Brymer is too closely recorded in the concerto. Otherwise you get good solid performances that you might have enjoyed at the Proms in the Sixties. There are no booklet notes, and no indication for the unwary of the analogue origin of these recordings. Martin Cotton
Holst, Elgar
These are reissues of material originally available on Carlton’s BBC Radio Classics. The problem with that series was that too much was issued, with a few nuggets of real interest among some pretty workaday stuff which was fine for a radio broadcast, but not really worth paying money for. Unfortunately, these CDs fall into that category, which is a pity, especially with the Holst/Elgar coupling.
Our rating
3
Published: January 20, 2012 at 1:21 pm