Another fine Fiedler. Wonderfully transparent, and superbly scaled & staged
(à la Everything but The Beer), this disc is very close to being a top recording.
Strings are rich and richly textured; ditto, winds and brass.
While not lean, the basses could use a bit more body (timps are right fine, however);
and the mids are not quite as luminously present as they are on some of the early dual tracks.
But these are nit-picks compared to sonic virtues of this fine recording.
Performances are effervescent, as they always are on Fiedler/BPO's.
While not as lively and luminous as the Bacchanale on Ballet Music From the Opera [LSC 2400],
the Saint-Saëns is still a standout performance, as is the Masquerade Suite
(although again not as fine as the famous Kondrashin disc [LSC 2398]).
The Dance of the Camorristi form The Jewels of the Madonna is also delightful.
(Madonna must have quite a collection of jewels, by now.)
The RCA Bible, Jonathan Valin, Review: 1s/1s 10++NR/Very Good
