Title: Not a great recording but
Review: I cannot give an unbiased review of any recording of Respighi's "The Birds". It along with Brahms' Hungarian Dances and Mozart Horn Concertos remain in my earliest memories of music. I would ask for "The Birds" which was an incredibly long piece taking several 78's.So I buy it now with other pieces to fill a CD. It still is an excellent piece of music to introduce children to the world of concert music - what more fun can you have than instruments sounding like cuckoos, hens, doves ...The Pines of Rome and the Fountains of Rome require a somewhat older audience but is enjoyable by school ages.I would tend to classify this Respighi as "classical pops" e.g. the repetoire of the Boston Pops and the equivalent "summer light" orchestras. And this recording is merely satisfactory - an orchestra sliding by on their competence not giving their all for an inspired rendition.But the mix of three delightful classical lights on this album makes it worth picking up for sheer fun.
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