Three events stick in my mind when I think of the Salle Wagram: first, the superb series of Haydn Symphonies we recorded there on successive days and with mounting respect and affection for this fine composer; next, the exciting sound of 'Scheherazade', Rimsky-Korsakov's masterpiece, which we started in London but finished there; lastly, my own Mozart concerto. This was done casually, almost as an afterthought. Beecham advised me of the plan only a couple of days before. We had of course worked at it together, and it was ready. The only person who had apparently not been told was the recording director Victor Olof; he had to reset all his microphones during the morning coffee break, and after 'Scheherazade' - a tricky bit of rethinking. Our method was simple. We did two complete takes of each movement between 11.30 and 1 p.m., had lunch and heard them played back. It was then decided that take 1 of the first movement, take 2 of the second and take 1 of the third was the best combination. The result is a complete, continuous and quite honest performance, whatever else it may or may not be. Almost twenty years later it is still on sale, and seems popular in spite of the obvious technical brilliance of the engineering I enjoyed in the two recordings I have since made. << less