The Klemperer recording of K361 does not seem to have been well served by the years. I remember admiring it when it was new, but am now not quite sure why I did. Tempos are, of course, steady (to put it quite modestly); but listening afresh, the performance emerges austere and unsmiling, making little of the sensuous warmth of the music, its wit, its sparkle. If it's a plain and unvarnished account of the work you want, this could be the one for you. But be warned: the ensemble is often poor (the want of clarity in the elderly Klemperer's beat cannot here be covered up by a gentle string attack) and the bass, done by both a double bassoon and a string bass, for reasons that escape me, is leaden. The Romanze and the variation movement in particular seem ponderous. There is some good individual playing, most noticeably from the clarinets, the oboes, a shade acidic, give less pleasure.
Amid the mid-price versions, the two listed above are both to be preferred to the new issue on almost every count. Choosing between them is harder. Jack Brymer's team on Decca offer some sweet playing, again with outstanding clarinets, and many happy, tasteful touches; but the Dutch performance for Philips does seem to have more life, more shaping and a warmer recorded sound (it is the newer by six years). Most of the foregoing remarks apply equally to the E flat Serenade; the Klemperer performance is stronger than that of K361, and better recorded, but still decidedly cool. With so many excellent full-price performances currently to be had, I'm not sure that I would be too eager to economize with a mid-price one, but if I did it would be the de Waart version or possibly the Brymer. I called the de Waart ''sober'' when I reviewed it a couple of years back but I have to say that, compared with Klemperer it's practically orgiastic.'