Steve Schwartz wrote (re Wild-Horenstein Rachmaninoff): >The sound is gorgeous. Chandos has transferred performances originally >made for a Reader's Digest "club," which I never heard, so I have no idea >what the originals were like. On these CDs, you hear everything. Detail >normally lost in a miasma of orchestral sound comes through almost like a >slap in the face, simply because I never knew it was there. For me, this >is the great stereo set. The originals are legendary audiophile LPs, and are by far the scarcest box set of the much-sought-after Gerhardt produced, Wilkinson-engineered RPO Walthamstow sessions for Reader's Digest. Just for the hell of it, I did a quick comparison of the LP original and the Chandos CD, concentrating on the 3rd (which coincidentally I had just heard beaten to a pulp by Bronfman and the St. Petersburgers) and the Rhapsody. LP-CD comparisons like these always should be taken with plenty salt, but what I heard: CD: Big hall sound, warmer, bassier, piano more prominent in the mix, less focused, extraneous noises (key clatter & pedal kicking, or maybe podium stomping) much more prominent (in the Rhapsody). LP: Focused, better balance between piano & orchestra, leaner sound, somewhat pinched dynamics (attributable to Dynagroove, no doubt). Summary for busy exec.: For analytical listening, LP; for a good old sonic wallow, CD. Incidentally, the LP set includes a bonus -- The Isle of the Dead. -- Art Scott Livermore, Cal.