There is nothing very special about this coupling, except the generosity of its contents. It represented Marriner's debut as conductor of an orchestra in which he once played and he secures a sympathetic response. Moreover the Philips engineers accord him a characteristically refined recording. That said, neither the performances nor the digitally re-mastered recording bring any quickening of the pulse. It seems unlikely that DG will put the splendid Abbado performances with the same orchestra—he omits the second Carmen suite—on CD, as they are now available, sounding extremely well, on a Walkman chrome cassette at bargain price. Compact Disc collectors would do better for the Carmen with Slatkin and the St Louis Symphony Orchestra in a glowingly vivid real digital recording on Telarc/Conifer (CD80048, 10/84). The performances are comparable with Marriner's. The St Louis orchestra is not quite a match for the LSO, yet all the playing is sympathetic and stylish and the sound is excellent. Slatkin's coupling is an extended suite from Grieg's Peer Gynt.'