This new Naxos digital set of The Nutcracker is brightly and immediately recorded and the playing has plenty of zest and vitality. The effect is never boring for a moment, but is lacking in expansive relaxation and charm. The gorgeous ''Forest of pine trees in Winter'' in Act 1 has sounded more seductive elsewhere and the ''Waltz of the Flowers'' has produced a more appealing lilt in other hands. Lenard opens with a very brisk ''Miniature Overture'' (2'50'') and then sets off into the party scene with similar vigour. The whole performance has this feeling of pressing on, although in Act 2 the famous characteristic dances have vivid colouring (even if the ''Sugar-plum Fairy'' is rather tinkly) and the big Pas de deux is not wanting in fire. But the ''Waltz of the Snowflakes'' has no children's chorus (and that is sorely missed) and the break between the first and second discs is ineptly placed, immediately before the Spanish dance which opens the Divertissement. The preceding music has prepared one for the first number, and the listener is left in anticipation, but there is silence—something that used to occur in the old days of 78s.
The fill-up is the Glazunov arrangement, Chopiniana which the titling and presentation (although not the documentation) suggests is the same as Les sylphides. It isn't. It is an entirely different ballet, starting with the Polonaise in A major and ending with the Tarantella, Op. 43, all very jolly. However, the moonlit magic that makes Les sylphides (as arranged by Roy Douglas) such an enchanting score, is almost entirely missing here. It is given a lively performance, but Glazunov's arrangement does not make any special case for hearing Chopin's piano music played by an orchestra, as does the more familiar work.
So, if you pick this set up in a dealer on impulse you will get some very lively playing and vivid digital sound and, above all, Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker is so inspired that it cannot fail to enchant. But any of the available full-price versions will give far more satisfaction. If you want a bargain, I suggest the Pickwick Duet 2 set by the LPO under Rodzinski ((CD) DUET20CD). This was recorded in the earliest days of stereo, and the sound is not so sophisticated or as sharply detailed as a modern recording, but it has lots of glamour and warmth and the performance is splendid (even including Big Ben to represent the clock chiming in Act 1).'