Back in April 1962, Arthur Jacobs met a young English conductor, Colin Davis, who'd recently been appointed music director of Sadler's Wells.
'The clamour for operatic records sung in English,' wrote Philip Hope-Wallace in his February review of the Sadler's Wells excerpts from Carmen, 'is far greater than one might suppose by merely looking at catalogues.'
With which pronouncement firmly in mind, I directed my footsteps to the stage door of Sadler's Wells and sought out Colin Davis. Of the Sadler's Wells 'highlights' records he has so far only conducted Carmen (Bryan Balkwill, Alexander Faris, William Reid and Vilem Tausky have shared the six others), but he is the musical director of the company. As such, he is primarily responsible for maintaining the standards of the only regular source of opera-inEnglish in the record catalogue.
Continues @ http://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/focus/colin-daviss-first-gramophone-interview-april-1962
