ROSSINI:  Overtures to The Barber of Seville, The Italian Woman in Algiers, La cambiale di matrimonio, The Silken Ladder, Tancredi, Il Signor Bruschino, The Turk in Italy, L'inganno felice
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields/Sir Neville Marriner, cond. (rec. 5/74)
PENTATONE PTC 5186 106 TT: 52:40  (4 channel)

Marriner recorded all of Rossini's overtures, issued on 3 CDs; here are  8 of them originally issued on Philips LP 6500878 which explains the rather slight playing time.  Don't expect the excitement of Toscanini or Szell in this music, but you will hear solid performances from Marriner and his band - superbly and naturally recorded in Brent Town Hall in 1974.  For more on Pentatone's SACD issues, click here.

TCHAIKOVSKY:  Symphony No. 6 in b minor, Op. 74 Pathétique.  Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a
Orchestra of Paris/Seiji Ozawa, cond. (rec. 2/1974)
PENTATONE PTC 5186 107 TT:  68:49 (4 channel)


Ozawa's Pathètique originally was issued on a single LP (6500850); fortunately producers here have coupled it with the same conductor's Nutcracker Suite, originally issued on LP (6500851) coupled with a suite from Swan Lake.  Ozawa would record the Sixth twice later, with the Boston Symphony and the Saito Kinen orchestras.  This Paris recording, made in the resonant Salle Wagram, has been unavailable for decades, but might gain new advocates because of the sound in this multi-channel edition.  This is the only big orchestra release in Pentatone's initial releases and bodes well for future such issues.

R.E.B. (NEXT SURROUND REVIEW)