RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: “SCHEHERAZADE.” St. Louis Symphony conducted by...

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: “SCHEHERAZADE.” St. Louis Symphony conducted by Jerzy Semkow. MUSSORGSKY: DANCE OF THE PERSIAN SLAVES. St. Louis Symphony conducted by Leonard Slatkin. MMG MCD-10037 (compact disc). Semkow’s lumbering leadership and the tight St. Louis sound anno 1976 (in its pre-Slatkin era) make this the sleepiest “Scheherazade” on records. Concertmaster Max Rabinovitsj offers glowing sounds in his solo assignment, but orchestral imprecision mitigates his noble effort. Slatkin is more at home in the “Khovanshchina” excerpt. The digital remastering of the analog originals will suffice.