The Sargent/EMI Patience (1962)

Cast
Colonel CalverleyJohn Shaw
Major MurgatroydTrevor Anthony
Duke of DunstableAlexander Young
Reginald BunthorneGeorge Baker
Archibald GrosvenorJohn Cameron
Lady AngelaMarjorie Thomas
Lady SaphirElizabeth Harwood
Lady EllaHeather Harper
Lady JaneMonica Sinclair
PatienceElsie Morison

Pro Arte Orchestra
Glyndebourne Festival Chorus
Conductor: Sir Malcolm Sargent

Recorded 6 February 1959 (Overture) & 17–20 October 1961

EMI SXDW-3031
EMI SXDW-3031
EMI CDS7 47783-8
EMI CDS7 47783-8

This recording was the penultimate entry in Sir Malcolm Sargent's series of G&S recordings with grand opera singers. It is one of the least satisfying, mostly because septuagenarian George Baker was simply too old to play the aesthetic poet Bunthorne. D'Oyly Carte's 1961 recording with complete dialogue is preferable in nearly all respects.

Eric Peterson supplied the following capsule review:

I went out and bought Patience on CD on a whim, and the local record store had only the Glyndebourne one. I gritted my teeth and bought it. Mistake. I have the Glyndebourne Iolanthe, and it's not bad (and it has wonderfully funny cover art), but the Patience is soporific, and no one is well cast, except for maybe Jane and Angela. I think Patience is a show you have to be careful with, or it can slide into "dull," and this recording is dull squared. That snappy cello opening of "Let the merry cymbals" is played slower than I ever want to hear it played again, thankyouverymuch. Luckily, I have the 60's DC recording on LP.

This recording was originally issued on LP. As Patience is such a short opera, EMI was able to re-issue it on CD coupled with Sir Charles Groves's 1968 recording of Sullivan's Symphony in E ("Irish") with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

EMI CMS7 64406-2
EMI CMS7 64406-2
Angel 3635 B/L
Angel 3635 B/L
Issue History
DateLabelFormatNumberComments
Sept. 1962 HMV Mono LP ALP 1918/9  
Stereo LP ASD 484/5
1962? HMV Australia Mono LP OALP 1918/9
Stereo LP OASD 484/5
1962? Angel Mono LP 3635 B/L
Stereo LP S3635 B/L
Jul. 1977 EMI Stereo LP SXDW 3031
ca. 1977 World Record Club Stereo LP R 00197-8  
ca. 1980 World Record Club Stereo LP S/4053-4  
1970s/80s World Record Club Stereo LP 7076 Highlights
Jul. 1989 EMI Stereo LP EX7 49597-1 Also includes Iolanthe.
Cassette EX7 49597-4
CD CDS7 47783-8 Also includes Sullivan Symphony in E ("Irish").
Oct. 1992 EMI CD CMS7 64406-2
1999 HMV CD HMVD 5 73678 2 Slimline double sold in HMV shops exclusively. Also includes Sullivan Symphony in E ("Irish").
2001 EMI CD 5744682 16-CD set containing all nine of the Sargent "Glyndebourne" G&S recordings, plus various Sullivan orchestral works