DR. MALCOLM SARGENT

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 194, 14 May 1936, Page 6

DR. MALCOLM SARGENT

Eminent Conductor Coming To Wellington CONCERTS IN AUGUST An offer of an engagement to conduct three concerts in Wellington in August has been accepted by Dr. Malcolm .Sargent, (he eminent English musical conductor. Dr. Sargent’s acceptance was received by cablegram by Mr. IV. E. Caldow, secretary of the Royal Wellington Choral Union. As Dr. Sargent will appear in the role of conductor in Wellington only, there is every prospect that musical enthusiasts who realise Dr. Sargent’s position in the world of music will make a pilgrimage to this city for the purpose of seeing the man in action and getting an insight into his readings. Dr. Sargent, who is going through to Australia under engagement to the Australian Broadcasting Commission, is to arrive iu Auckland from Vancouver by the Aorangi on August 3 (possibly on August 2). i The concerts will take place iu the Wellington Town Hall on August 6, 11 [ and 15, and will consist of oue sym- | phony concert (with the Wellington I Symphony Orchestra), one choral performance, for which Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” has been selected (possibly with overseas soloists), and one miscellaneous concert (orchestra and ballad). Mr. Caldow states that the engagement of Dr. Malcolm Sargent is the most important of the kind ever made, as he is in the hey-day of his powers. Dr. Sargent is the conductor-in-chief of the Royal Choral Society of Loudon, and when it was decided to record the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with Savoy casts it was Dr. Sargent who was engaged as conductor. Some people objected to the tempo at which he took several of the numbers in these operas, but Dr. Sargent confounded his critics by referring to Sir Arthur Sullivan’s original score iu the British Museum which gave the tempos used. It seemed that these tempos had been slowed down to suit the aged Sir Henry Lyton (comedian, now retired), and the public had become accustomed to them. It was Dr. Sargent who restored the tempos to the Sullivan original. These records have been frequently broadcast in New Zealand during the last two years. Incidentally, the concerts to be given here in August'are to be broadcast, so that the whole of New Zealand will be able to appreciate the art of the visitor. Indeed, it is the New Zealand Broadcasting Board which has made Dr. Sargent’s visit to New Zealand possible.