Like the traditional understatement of the British, cool Gallic reserve is all very well, but can be carried too far. Here it has produced a distinctly low-temperature record—one which, since it consists of works of which various attractive alternative versions abound, is likely to be of interest chiefly to admirers of Charles Munch. How far he may have been inhibited by the then very recently formed Orchestre de Paris is an obvious question. Evident weaknesses in that area cannot be ignored—a less than entirely precise side-drum (of all things!) in Bolero, and an uncertainly tuned trombone solo; a moment of poor intonation from the cor anglais at its first entry in the Pavane; and an over-shrill trumpet, again not well in tune, in the ''Malaguena''. But Munch's basic interpretations are also open to question. The Pavane (recorded at rather low level) does not need to sound lackadaisical; there is little magical promise in the air in this prosaic ''Prelude a la nuit'' of the Rapsodie espagnole, the brilliance of whose ending seems whipped up; and this must be one of the most laid-back performances ever of Daphnis et Chloe, with not much suggestion of the lucid quality of Greek light (and, in sonic terms, with harsh climaxes). One has to admire, as a piece of technical control, Munch's skill in handling an immensely long gradual accelerando in Bolero, which he begins languidly, in accordance with Ravel's conception of it as a ''dream bolero''.'