The actual recording session wasn't really a session at all in the true sense of the word. So what was it like, then? There was a morning rehearsal, a lunchtime kick around on the De Montfort Hall lawn (Leicester City v Brazil with coats for goal posts) and a series of straight 'takes' warts-and-all from 2.00pm to around 6.00pm.No attempts were made by the engineers to fix mistakes in these takes. Pretty dull stuff except for the football.

First up on the podium was Sir Michael in his usual good mood. For some reason he had failed to put his socks on that morning - take a look at the L.P.sleeve. Other strange things can also be seen, including Paul Stokes taking photos and a ruck of people near the trombone section. These blokes were, in fact, a camera crew working on a T.V. special called ' Come Here Often ' hosted by Welsh rugby player, Cliff Morgan. Cliff would put on a false smile as soon as the cameras started to roll. When the cameramen weren't quite ready the Producer uttered the memorable words ' Not now Cliff !!' and Cliff immediately turned off his moronic grin. ' Not now Cliff ' became one of our catch phrases. I digress. Back to Sir Michael, an inspiration to the orchestra but not really a conductor as such. In rehearsals he concentrated on phrasing and balance but really didn't bother a great deal with minor issues such as coming in together. He waved his arms around, grunted occasionally and we did our best to follow him. Sometimes, to be frank, he appeared to be following us. His Suite in D was popular with the orchestra. The only regret is that we had no chance to re-take the All Around My Hat section of the third movement and a rather shambolic finale. At the Fairfield Hall and other key concerts the playing was better than this in all honesty.

During Sir Michael's session, Oivin Fjelstad turned up out of the blue to rehearse Nielsen's Maskerade Overture which he conducted in a rather square 'brass bandish' sort of way. He told us he was from the Oslo Philharmonic and planned to work with us on our Autumn tour of Denmark. We never saw hide nor hair of the Nordic so-and-so again. Next contestant please. Enter Alan Ridout, stage left. I can't remember much about Alan but his Concertante Music was duly set down in a single take. William Mathias followed and in no time at all the first movement of his Sinfonietta was completed. Time for 20 minutes of footie and then the last two movements of Sinfonietta. Immediately after the finale the engineer told us it was just like listening to the New York Philharmonic. We knew that already, thankyou very much. Now it was Eric's turn with Arnold's Divertimento, one of our favourites and a regular item in the orchestra's repertoire since the early 1960's. The nocturne could be a bit of a bore but the chaconne always made up for it.

What about the finished product? Some musical playing with woodwind and brass generally excelling. Pity about the odd patch of dodgy string intonation. More time for re-takes would also have helped but this L.P. is a series of performances, not a patchwork quilt of bits and bobs edited together. Listening to it today the memories flood back and the opening few bars of the Intrada from the Suite in D immediately conjure up nostalgic images of the 1967 Music Festival, Villa Marina, Fairfield Hall, Copenhagen and Odense. Was this really over 30 years ago?

John Whitmore