There is less ambience in the Philips recording, less perspective in the orchestral sound-picture, less sense of the specific size of the string sections. Nevertheless, it is perfectly agreeable and never obstructs one's view of Bychkov's outstanding interpretation; isolated events such as the cymbal crash in the middle of the first movement are perhaps fractionally more vivid on CD than on LP, but otherwise, allowing for a necessary adjustment in volume level, I would have found it difficult to say with confidence which I was listening to. The Decca sound, as I noted in March, is spectacular, but re-hearing Haitink and the Concertgebouw I grow more frustrated with their tendency to Brahmsify Shostakovich. I have already had my say on the occasional eccentricity of Bychkov's tempos, but would still emphasize that his reading ''has the stamp of greatness''.'