Muti's new coupling of suites from Tchaikovsky's two major ballets is an attractive one. The ambience of the Fairmount Park Memorial Hall suits the music admirably and at last we are offered an unexaggerated balance for this great orchestra and the sophistication and beauty of the string playing (with much delectably polished detail, notably in the ''Waltz'' from Swan Lake) is heard without glare. The placing of the solo violin and cello in the ''Dance of the Queen of the Swans'' is distanced naturally, with each instrument in true perspective. Muti's selection from Swan Lake is relatively unconventional, ending with the Act 3 Mazurka, instead of the (perhaps more suitable) grandliquent finale. The essence of the music-making is its elegance. The ''Dance of the cygnets'' has a delightfully light touch and in the ''Hungarian Dance'' the contrast between the slow, languorous lassu and the exhilarating closing friss is most effective.
The approach to The Sleeping Beauty (the suite offering the usual items) is spacious and the lovely ''Panorama'' (one of Tchaikovsky's great melodic and rhythmic inspirations, with the tune floating serenely over its rocking bass) is nicely judged. If the Introduction does not quite find the electricity of Karajan nor the slavonic intensity of Rostropovich (both similarly coupled on DG—Karajan on 2530 195, 6/72; Rostropovich on 410 846-1, 5/84) the wide dynamic range of the recording makes a thrilling impact in the climax. Similarly the ''Rose Adagio'' is broad rather than electrifying, but many will like the relative avoidance of histrionics. Over all this is very enjoyable and tape collectors will find absolutely no loss of detail and range: this is one of the best XDR cassettes I have heard from EMI. At moments the detail is slightly crisper than on the LP.'