A Merry Christmas from the UK, Lancashire to be precise. Santa has brought me two DLvDE, he's a generous sort; the re-issued Reiner that a few people are keenly anticipating is worth the wait, particularly for the orchestral sound, but Richard Lewis was not as strong as I had hoped. Secondly, and more interestingly as it happens, is the 1956 version from the Concertgebouw with van Beinum, a Japanese edition on Philips. Nan Merriman has a tad too much vibrato, but has lots of old-world character and emotion. Haefliger is superb, and the orchestra is mighty fine. You also get an excellent Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen. Just the thing to accompany some mince pies and a glass of port...
