This sequence of genial dance pieces offers some attractive music, but unfolds over a monotonous texture that relies too heavily on a repeated-chord accompaniment. The two transcriptions at the end, including Balakirev’s well-known arrangement of The Skylark, are more varied, although it is a shame that Balakirev’s wonderful paraphrase of A Life for the Tsar was not preferred to Alexandr Gourilyov’s more routine treatment of the famous Terzetto. On the whole the playing is straightforward, with some pert characterization but with limited tonal variety. '