Gilbert and Sullivan: Favorite Overtures. Sir Malcolm Sargent, the Pro Arte Orchestre. EMI Seraphim 243 5 74010 2 9.

Gilbert and Sullivan: Favorite Overtures. Sir Malcolm Sargent, the Pro Arte Orchestre. EMI Seraphim 243 5 74010 2 9.

It's great to see that EMI has reinstituted its low-priced Seraphim line of recordings on CD. And they've stocked the series with a good assortment of fine old performances, many of them classics of their kind. This disc, of Gilbert and Sullivan overtures, is a prime example.

Taken from Sir Malcolm Sargent's complete sets, these overtures prove once and for all that the music of Sir Arthur Sullivan (lyrics by Sir W.S. Gilbert) must be taken seriously. Not that Sargent presents the tunes in any highhanded or weighty style; they are simply presented as genuinely thoughtful and entertaining melodies, not slight, music-hall ditties. In fact, the knock against Sargent's presentations of the operettas has sometimes been that they are too operatic, too somber, perhaps. I think not. They bubble over with joy and enthusiasm.

Recorded between 1957 and 1963, the overtures include "The Pirates of Penzance," "Iolanthe," "The Gondoliers," "H.M.S. Pinafore," "The Mikado," "Ruddigore," "The Yeoman of the Guard," "The Sorcerer," "Princess Ida," "Cox and Box," and "Overture di Ballo." The sound is open and full and remarkably transparent for its age. The disc's nearest competition comes probably from Sir Neville Marriner in his collection on Philips. But while Marriner may provide the smoother recording and in some cases the more animated interpretations, it is the older set that is often the most convincing sonically and, of course, the cheaper. In any case, both discs are recommendable, and, as I said, welcome back, Seraphim!