When I reviewed the three-LP set of Charpentier's Medee last November, I had not heard the final commercial pressings and had been informed that one side was to be recut. Since then I have listened to the commercial pressings finding the acoustic both lively and sympathetic. Rather to my surprise the CD release seems to offer little if anything in the way of improved sound, though I hasten to add it is in no way inferior. Particularly in the cases of opera and oratorio the convenience of having only to interrupt the music every 50 minutes or so, as opposed to every 25, is welcome and one might consider this in weighting the pros and cons of the two versions. On the other hand, a decided advantage in buying the LP set is the size of the printed libretto. The CD booklet presents the text in minute print which even those blessed with good eyesight will find tiring after half an hour or so. Clearly the print and layout must be adjusted for a format of this size but since exactly half of every other page is entirely blank, something more could have been done for the reader.
Let me conclude on a happier note, though, by reiterating my earlier opinion that this is a release which no lover of the baroque period should overlook. Such is the excellence of the music and the warm sympathy of the performance that I should be glad to have it in either format.'