In welcoming the reissue of Igor Markevitch's Apollon musagete, I hope I made it clear that Marriner's account would be the one to have should it ever reappear from that curious limbo reserved for stereo LPs not quite old enough to qualify as historic, not quite recent enough to have acquired the magic monicker 'DDD'. The Academy's 1968 coupling of the Pulcinella suite and Apollo was their first foray into twentieth-century repertoire on disc and it was greeted by EG with unalloyed enthusiasm as ''an outstanding record in every way''. It has been on my shelves for more than a quarter of a century so it is difficult for me to be objective about it now that it returns at last, with Capriccio a substantial bonus, in Decca's new Classic Sound
The transfers are excellent (only Pulcinella has appeared before on CD) and presentation is well up to the standards of the house. The model appears to be the Mercury Living Presence format in that the original artwork and notes survive where possible alongside a full technical specification. In Pulcinella, the unprecedented crispness of the Academy's ensemble may no longer inspire particular awe—we are accustomed to squeaky-clean Stravinsky nowadays—so it is the elegant, characterful solos and clear, warm (not quite plummy) Kingsway Hall ambience that places this account in a special category. Apollo sounds superb too, that final ''Apotheosis'' as blissful as ever, although, as its final chord dies, the improved clarity in the bass alerts us to the presence of an intruder—the London Underground. Capriccio not perhaps one of Stravinsky's more inspiring works, is well served by John Ogdon, less so by the over-resonant acoustic of The Maltings, Snape, which sometimes obscures instrumental detail. This is nevertheless an outstanding collection.'