Sir Charles Groves's sturdy yet affectionate reading of Sullivan's wholly charming Irish Symphony was always one of the best of his EMI offerings with the RLPO, and it is good to have it available once again in a rather less unwieldy coupling than before (it was originally appended to Sargent's 1962 Patience). The 1968 recording remains a vivid affair, though now, inevitably, one notices a slight lack of fullness and warmth in tuttis (strange that Chandos have never recorded the Ulster Orchestra in this delightful score—a digital alternative would be more than welcome).
The work's original LP coupling, the sparkling Overture di ballo, is here too: again, Groves conducts with plenty of character, though at times greater finesse would have been welcome from hard-working RLPO strings (this music is trickier than it sounds). Add to that first-rate performances of Sullivan's undemanding Cello Concerto from 1866 (in a fine reconstruction by Sir Charles Mackerras—the manuscript was destroyed in Chappell's fire of 1964) as well as Elgar's wistful little Romance (originally for bassoon), and you have a thoroughly attractive mid-price addition to EMI's enterprising (and, happily, fast-growing) British Composers series.'