Giulini's recordings of Britten's two most popular song cycles transfer well to CD, although his use of the fullest body of strings from both orchestras, the Chicago Symphony and Philharmonia, is not a complete success. It overweights both works, especially the Serenade, and subtracts some of the intimacy which is an essential feature. Robert Tear's singing is very much in the Pears tradition and so perhaps lacks individuality, but he is in total sympathy with the music and although I stubbornly prefer a soprano in Les illuminations, his account of it, accompanied by really virtuoso playing, is highly satisfying. Dale Clevenger's playing of the horn part in the Serenade is among the finest there has been since Dennis Brain. The Maazel performance of The Young Person's Guide with the French National orchestra is 25 years old and the recording shows it a bit, but for Britten-fanders this is a bargain disc.R1 '8811086'