I suppose all this may pass muster on the soundtrack of the new film from which it is taken, where the images are likely to distract from critical listening, but in the context of gramophone recordings it is, to my mind, a non-starter. The actual performance of Falla's score is routinely tolerable, though both the ''Dance of terror'' and the ''Pantomime'' are rushed through with a minimum of atmosphere; there is a lack of precision in the ''Magic circle'', and the solo trumpet's intonation could have been better; but thanks largely to the recording—Which produces a totally artificial balance, variable levels and cardboard timpani—artistry and subtlety are little in evidence. The vocal sections, entrusted to ''Spain's internationally celebrated mezzo-soprano Rocio Jurado'' (vide blurb) are sung alla gitana with numerous glottal acciaccaturas within notes—a fascinating and (arguably) defensible departure from orthodox concert practice—but the voice is exaggeratedly amplified (to go with a screen close-up?), as is a guitar solo in the bits and bobs of commercialized flamenco (some sung in ragged unison by several voices), which seem designed for the tourist coach trade and from which Falla would have recoiled in horror. (There is just one acceptable item, Se pone como una fiera.) All except those who must have 'the record of the film' are advised to stick to either Dutoit (Decca) or Simon (chandos), both of which also offer better value than this, containing as it does only 24 minutes of Falla's music.'