This intelligently compiled bargain reissue demonstrates the strength of both Rimsky-Korsakov’s music on disc (when was the last time you saw a live performance of either opera suite?), and EMI’s “second string” of conductors in the late 1950s and early ’60s. The quartet of Kletzki, Cluytens, von Matacic, and Kurtz delivers an excellent series of performances, unified by the superb playing of the vintage Philharmonia. Von Matacic’s Russian Easter Overture in particular makes a welcome reappearance, complete with extra chimes at the final peroration and some fabulously sonorous trombones. Cluyten’s Capriccio Espagnol hasn’t the sheer excitement of Bernstein’s but he indulges the gorgeous orchestration with epicurean relish and a sure sense of style. The Kletzki and Kurtz recordings of the opera suites have been mainstays of the Rimsky discography for 40 years now, and probably will be for the next 40. Essential.
