London/Decca 417 358-4

This is a fine performance of the opera, though Yeomen has fared exceptionally well on records, and it is doubtful that most collectors will be satisfied with just one recording. There are no significant weak spots in the cast. My only complaint is that Philip Potter makes the lout Fairfax sound far too sweet.

Sir Malcolm Sargent conducts his first D'Oyly Carte recording since the 1930s, though of course he had by this time completed his series for EMI with grand opera singers in the leading roles. It is surprising that he recorded another Yeomen just six years after his EMI performance, which certainly was still in the catalog. (These days, artists generally sign a ten-year exclusion agreement for any work that they record.)

One casting oddity is Elizabeth Harwood as Elsie. Harwood sang small parts on a couple of the other Sargent recordings, but she never appeared on stage for D'Oyly Carte. Ann Hood was the Company's regular Elsie at this time, and so she was here re-assigned to Phoebe — no small part to be sure, but not a role she ever sang on stage.

Decca 473 655-2