Constantin Silvtestri. Overtures. Humperdinck. Haensel and Gretel. Mendelessohn. A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 21. Glinka, Russian and Ludmilla. Rimsky-Korsakoy. May Night. Borodin. Prince Igor. Philharmonia Orchesitra/Constantin Sil-ventri. H.M.V. MALP 1749.

This is generally unimaginative playing; Silvestri does no justice to his usual competent standard, here Haensel and Gretel suffers chiefly from erraticity; the transitions between passages are very roughly defined and equally roughly accomplished. The Midsummer Night's Dream is, on the other hand, quite beautifully Interpreted, excepting the odd sour note from the brass, and the fortissimo rendering of passages, pianissimo. Here, the strings excel, as they do in Russian and Ludmilla, also a fairly competent reading, in which the woodwind and intonation is clean and sparkling, the timpani too loud, the bass pizzicato inaudible. May Night and Prince Igor finish the selection: the former, folky overture is not terribly Inspiring music, but receives a fair (apart from some horrible, fuzzy horn playing) performance. The Borodin too is only fairly successful; "only fair" in fact, by virtue of the irregularity of the tempi—Silvestri has gone to absurd lengths in this overture. The recording throughout is very clear, with little surface noise.

—M.J.W.