I hope HMV will soon re-master the famous giulini set of this work, for this Solti is not wholly satisfactory. I have never shared the enthusiasm expressed in some quarters for this version, preferring the much more vital Solti/Chicago set on RCA (on LP only). The recording is somewhat overblown, and the performance unaccountably flaccid with the VPO having indifferent sessions. None of that is much improved on CD; indeed, it is another case of the new medium's ruthless veracity only confirming good or bad impressions of an LP. The wobbly chorus hardly improves matters. There are some compensations from the soloist—Horne is the formidable mezzo, although her singing isn't always lit with inner feeling. The beauty of the youthful Pavarotti's tone is admirable, but he is sometimes restrained by four-square support. Talvela is sonorous but lacks legato. Sutherland seems out of her element, overparted and offering a classic of misinterpretation at the start of the final movement.'