The playing of the orchestral items here is nothing short of sensational. The LSO has always responded to its former music director with a special degree of warmth and virtuosity and the sessions from which these performances derive only confirm the point. I doubt if you could hope to hear either ''Alborada del gracioso'' or La valse, which respectively open and close the disc, delivered with greater elan or a closer understanding of their moods: in particular, the close of the latter piece reflects the ne plus ultra of an idea's destruction. The effect is positively manic so that one feels almost in the same state as at the end of Elektra. Edward Greenfield found this reading a little hard when it first appeared six years ago, but surely a touch of blatant cynicism is what Ravel was about here. Abbado is just as successful with ''Une barque sur l'ocean'', like ''Alborada'', an orchestration of piano pieces from Miroirs. Abbado then does what he can for the early work, the overture Sheherazade, which is not among Ravel's most compelling.
The song cycle of the same name has nothing to do with the overture. It receives here a richly sung and assured reading from Margaret Price, always a favourite singer with Abbado. Her generous resources are fully equal to the shimmering ''Asie'' and she catches most of the languorous sensuality of the other two songs, although a slightly more intimate, caressing tone is called for here, such as Crespin provides in her classic 1964 recording now on Decca CD. To complete one's pleasure Accardo gives a predictably virtuoso, sweet-toned account of Tzigane, sensuously supported by the LSO. So, with superb recorded quality and 68 minutes of music, this disc is something to buy and treasure.'