Previn's 1972 EMI analogue LP recording (ASD2800, 7/72—nla) of Alexander Nevsky was an outstanding achievement. So powerful is the performance that one forgets that there is neither a Russian choir nor a Russian soloist participating. Indeed, Anna Reynolds's contribution is most moving and certainly Slavonic in its intensity of feeling but with a hint of restraint as well, which makes the effect even more touching. The sound, too, comes up as freshly today as ever. It is strikingly well balanced (with Christopher Bishop and Christopher Parker as producer and recording engineer respectively) and while the chorus sound real and immediate, the orchestra have a bite and pungency in ''The Battle on the Ice'' sequence that are just right for the music.
There is a power and exuberance that Previn does not recapture fully in this new Telarc version and for all the amplitude and digital excellence of the new recording, the older EMI somehow has more presence, partly because of the greater magnetism and projection of the music-making itself. Of course the new version has many fine moments—the weight of the choral sound is very telling and the closing section, ''Alexander's entry into Pskov'', is superbly expansive and grandiloquent. But Christine Cairns, although she sings with eloquence, is no match for Anna Reynolds, and the LSO Chorus are more exhilaratingly incisive than the Los Angeles group. By the side of the earlier performance the new one is in danger of sounding bland.
The Lieutenant Kije suite is played with great warmth (and gives the Telarc engineers a better chance to produce some spectacular orchestral sounds), but I enjoyed Abbado's rather more nostalgically refined account on DG even more. His is the most generally recommendable CD of Alexander Nevsky too. Although the performance has less guts than Previn's EMI version, it has an unassailable power and the opening of ''The Battle on the Ice'' sequence is very sinister. Again, the LSO Chorus sing splendidly, even if one senses they are carefully controlled. But Abbado places the emotional climax of the work at the tragic lament after the battle. The last part of the battle sequence is hauntingly nostalgic and prepares the way for Obraztsova's beautiful solo, with its wonderfully expressive orchestral backcloth. The DG recording has transferred most vividly to Compact Disc.'