The darling of the Promenaders during the 1960s, Sargent produced relatively few records by the side of Beecham, Barbirolli or Boult. I possess the First Symphony, albeit in its mono form (nla) with Karsh's famous photograph on its cover, so that comparison here is inevitably to the advantage of the CD transfer. Sargent had conducted the Fifth in Helsinki on the day of Sibelius's death in September 1957 and EMI recorded the work the following year.
Writing on its first appearance in mono (nla) the late-lamented Trevor Harvey noted it had ''always been one of his great successes''. I recall an exceptionally fine performance in the concert hall in the early 1950s in which he handled the celebrated transition in the first movement with consummate skill. He does so here, too, and readers will find tempos well judged throughout. At the time when this Fifth was greeted with admiration TH was hard pressed to choose between it, the mono Barbirolli performance on Pye (nla) and the fine Alexander Gibson stereo version on RCA—later released on Chandos (nla). The very opening, however, does strike me as a bit wanting in atmosphere, whereas that of the First is impressively brooding. I have always thought Sargent an eminently straightforward and sound advocate of that work and his account finely proportioned.
There are performances of higher voltage but these are not negligible readings, even if they are not the last word in finesse. The sonority of the BBC Symphony Orchestra's strings at this period was not as fine grained or silky as those of the Philharmonia or RPO. Needless to say, climaxes are not as rich and transparent as one would expect from a modern recording, particularly that of the First Symphony, which dates from 1956. However, given its age, the sound is pretty amazing and I imagine many collectors could be easily deceived into thinking these performances were of much later provenance. Not a first choice, perhaps, but good value all the same.'