To have all this inspired and colourful music, recorded in a suitably expansive acoustic, is undoubtedly very good value for money at such a modest price. The orchestral playing is good, even if the players themselves are not always keyed up to be on their toes (the trumpet entry in the opening Fanfare sounds superb, but when the horn joins in there is a bit of 'lazy' co-ordination that could easily have been corrected).
Anyone coming new to these scores will wallow in them as at an American feast. Ellis directs competently and musically. The opening of Appalachian Spring is evocative, less high in concentration, but detail is well observed and later there is plenty of atmosphere, the Shaker tune blossoms vibrantly and the piece ends touchingly. El salon Mexico has a seductively sleazy dancehall atmosphere but rhythmically the ensemble playing here, as in the ballet suite from Billy the Kid and the exuberant ''Hoe-Down'' from Rodeo, lacks that special touch of easily syncopated rhythmic bite that transatlantic musicians manage so naturally. Many of the RPO instrumental solos (like the shrieking clarinet in Billy the Kid) have the right kind of uninhibited zest, but bar El salon Mexico, you can get all these pieces (plus the remaining ''Dance Episodes'' from Rodeo) played with quite extraordinary virtuosity and elan by the NYPO and Bernstein on Sony (5/93). That record costs twice as much as this one, but the performances are worth ten times as much!'