MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Respighi: Belkis, Queen of Sheba (orchestral suite) / Metamorphoseon

"You probably won't bother to listen more than once or twice to the Queen Belkis piece, it takes all too little imagination to see it as two movements for Elizabeth Taylor and two for Charlton Heston, cast in favourite roles and here musically clad in the requisite regalia!
Metamorphoseon is something else. Edward Greenfield rightly drew parallels with Elgar and Britten and I fail to comprehend why this delightful collection has not surfaced before and become a programme favourite. The celebrated Chandos recording technique is used to full effect in All Saints Church, Tooting (is it their organ in the final movement I wonder?) and the excellent Philharmonia, well in the running for my 'smoothest string ensemble in the UK' award, give a compelling performance; they obviously like it too.

The CD fully exploits the remarkable dynamic range and reveals a successful balance which exposes every tiny detail, while still retaining depth and perspective. Congratulations on letting the xylophone sparkle from its real position back in the percussion and resisting the temptation to spotlight it. Only the occasional squeal of the piccolo jars, but then it often does in reality.

I shall be surprised and disappointed if the arrival of this disc does not popularize this work and I strongly recommend that you buy it and have a little game asking your friends to guess the composer."
(Gramophone)