Before choosing this historic Deutsche Grammophon reissue, listeners should carefully note some points that may make it less than desirable. First, Gaité Parisienne,
Manuel Rosenthal's delightful ballet on themes by Jacques Offenbach, is considerably excerpted here, truncated by about 10 minutes for the original LP release. With several complete renditions available on disc, played with equal verve and color, this reduced "suite" is hard to recommend. Second, Roger Désormière's ballet, Le Beau Danube, is an extended arrangement of Johann Strauss' waltzes, with additional material from Die Fledermaus and themes by other members of the Strauss family. Note that this is not the original On the Beautiful, Blue Danube, though Désormière preserves most of its tunes in his abbreviated version of it (track 18). The Corsaire Overture by Berlioz, Auber's Overture to Fra Diavolo, and the Carnival Overture by Dvorák are substantial filler, rich in Romantic expression and handsomely performed, but perhaps insufficient as compensation for the curtailed Gaité, the disc's biggest disappointment. The
Berliner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester, conducted by
Paul Strauss, is wonderfully rambunctious and exciting, and these well-preserved stereo recordings from 1958 and 1959 are quite vivid and surprisingly clean for analog.