Ramon Arguello asks me how I'd compare the Flanders/Fielding/Marriner version of Facade with the Ashcroft/Irons/Chailly. I don't compare what I've never heard. But I can say what I admire about the former. The instrumental ensemble is spot on, virtuosic (especially in "Mariner Man"), the attacks are electrifying, and the textures are clear. The speakers are not only rhythmically precise, but dramatically various. I love the sound of Fielding's voice - she sounds like she's enjoying really good toffee. Something I haven't liked much about the Scofield/Ashcroft performance is that neither one of them are particularly musical. Perhaps Ashcroft has gotten better. The recitation is as much an instrumental part as a vocal one, and it's precisely there where most speakers fail, including, I'm afraid, Edith Sitwell herself in the Prausnitz recording. There is also a fascinating disc which I haven't heard yet on Hyperion with Facade absolutely, positively complete - all 44 numbers. I don't know who the performers are, but that one fact is enough to put that CD on my wish list. Steve Schwartz