Once again, Naxos ventures where the majors fear to tread, but the results are mixed. Competition is fiercest in Le bourgeois gentilhomme, with Reiner's Chicago Symphony boasting an unparalleled line-up of orchestral soloists (Janos Starker contributing memorably to 'The Dinner'). The players of the Melbourne Symphony are not quite in that league, and the booklet's claim that the orchestra is 'widely acclaimed as one of Australia's finest' sounds like damning with faint praise. The opening movement is just a tad sluggish. With a Beecham at the helm, this might have made a more positive impression. As it is, Strauss's arch neo-classicism does not consistently persuade. The recorded balance is odd too, with muddied textures and the trumpet placed rather forward in relation to everything else. The suite is, however, played complete: Reiner omits 'Lully's Minuet' and the 'Courante'. Unobtainable at present are such distinguished rivals as the squeaky-clean Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (DG, 3/93). Buy the Reiner, though, and you also take home a superlative Symphonia domestica.
The Symphonic Interludes from Intermezzo are a comparative rarity, but, even at budget price the Halasz version isn't polished enough. There are places where you feel the conductor has real affection for the score, but, to be frank, this is another of those Naxos recordings which would have benefited from more rehearsal time. 'Am Spieltisch' sounds especially unhappy, the music's wit fatally compromised by intonation and ensemble problems. While Strauss's music need not feel 'overstuffed', in MEO's words, it does benefit from a more consistent sheen. The present collection is merely serviceable, though worth considering for a fiver.'