With total absence of background and a transfer to Compact Disc which keeps the mellowness of the original LP, atmospheric but finely transparent, the Ravel side comes near to matching in beauty the model Decca recording of Ravel on Compact Disc—the superb Montreal Symphony Orchestra / Dutoit version of Daphnis et Chloe (400 055-2, 3/83). There is not quite such a sense of electric immediacy here in the Pittsburgh recording, but that may be a question of the transfer being at a relative low level. The same qualities are a great asset in the Saint-Saens too, notably so in the beautifully transparent account of ''Aquarium'' and in the finely judged not-too-close balance of the solo cello in ''The swan'', played with exquisite tenderness by Anne Martindale Williams. The piano tone is extremely faithful too, bright but never aggressive, with the piano chords rightly kept as a pulsing background against the string melody (Offenbach-based) of ''Tortoises'', and though the double-basses sound rather distant in ''The elephant'', the sepulchral quality in their timbre is very realistic. The full ensemble used in the opening and closing movements is not so transparent, but that is mostly a question of instrumentation. I have rarely if ever known a more exuberant account of the final procession of the animals.
Since reviewing the LP, I have had the chance of making further comparisons when this work was the subject of ''Building a Library'' on Radio 3's Record Review, and now more than ever I am convinced that this is the best version in any format. My one reservation is a purely technical one. There is no banding except between the two works, which means that if you simply want to play ''The swan''—as many will with such a performance as this—you have to use the fast-forward button for an excessive span. Though it might be impossible to band all 20 movements in the two works, surely there ought to be bands for those popular movements likely to be wanted separately.'