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| ASV £5.50 (LP) ALH924 £5.50 (Cassette) ZCALH924 From Enigma VAR1022 (4/77). Recorded in association with Esso Petroleum Company Ltd. |
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When I reviewed the original issue of this on the Enigma label I welcomed the chance to hear Dorati's vivid reading in full modern sound, when his 1960 Mercury version with the LSO had been a staple of the catalogue for so long (SRI75058, 4/82). The catalogue now lists only two more modern versions than this ASV, one of them, the Dohnany, a digital issue (Decca SXDL7511, 11/80), and the vividness and sense of reality of the Dorati version makes it still very competitive in its sound quality. I noted in my original review that with sound relatively close there was less terracing of dynamics than in many versions, and in the obvious showpiece passage, "The Infernal Dance of Kastchei", this account fails to expand at the climax quite as the others do, while the ensemble of the RPO is not quite so crisp. But generally Dorati's urgency and firmness and his sense of drama are very well conveyed, with individual instruments sharply defined and real. The cassette version is transferred at a high level, though the dynamic range is noticeably less than on the disc.
EG