This companion box to last year’s excellent Westminster Chamber Music set is far less consistent in quality, and contains more recordings from the small but adventurous Westminster Company of the 1950s and 60s. While containing many items of interest and some fascinating performances, sound quality or standards of execution often relegate these versions to secondary status. 

For example, Hermann Scherchen was a galvanising conductor whose wide repertoire included Beethoven, Mahler, Glière’s Symphony No 3 (Ilya Muromets) and Bach’s B Minor Mass, all represented here, but he is often let down by the loose ensemble and less-than-uniform intonation of the Vienna Opera Orchestra. They are best in Haydn Symphonies. A disc featuring the London Symphony Orchestra of 1962 (with Marriner among the violins) establishes Pierre Monteux’s conception of Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet with no problems. Monteux makes the later scenes with Friar Laurence (David Ward) unusually convincing, but the Vienna orchestra is sloppy in the accompanying Symphonie Fantastique under René Liebowitz. The Royal Philharmonic is in another class altogether, playing Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, Symphony No 4 and Violin Concerto for Artur Rodzinski. They had to be: Rodzinski reputedly conducted with a loaded pistol at his side. 

We’re on stronger ground with solo contributions. Clara Haskil is incomparable in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 20 and 11 Scarlatti Sonatas. It’s fascinating to hear Barenboim and Bream at the start of their long careers, Egon Petri at the end of his, and singers like Jurinac in their prime. She sings Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben, and Liederkreis. A recital of Duparc by French tenor Leopold Simoneau is compromised by boxy mono sound but what an artist! Handel’s Rodelinda, conducted by Brian Priestman, sounds heavy by today’s standards but features such fine singers as Teresa Stich- Randall, Alexander Young, Maureen Forrester and Helen Watts. In spite of reservations, this box remains a treasure trove.