TURN-ONS AND TURN-OFFS IN CURENT HOME ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES : COMPACT DISCS

“Denon New Releases Classical Sampler.” DDD. The first to abandon the LP format, this Japan-Columbia label is to be admired for its commitment to quality in sound. Unfortunately, quality of performance seems to lag: The musical forces are generally not first-rate and the readings sampled here suggest only rare moments of inspiration. Three symphonic snippets of Mahler (by Eliahu Inbal and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony) hold promise--but serve as merely a too-brief glimpse of a massive landscape. Only three of 19 tracks are complete; the rest consist of a series of fade-outs. Even Reader’s Digest excerpts end with a period. 1/2