Do you remember the early days of the Compact Disc era? Very basic players cost a thousand dollars or more, and most CDs sold for more mid-eighties dollars than full-price CDs now cost in 2004 dollars.

One of the big events of the time was the emergence of the Montreal Symphony as one of the world's great orchestras. Under the leadership of Charles Dutoit, it became the first Canadian orchestra to become a major force in the recording industry, and was accorded the ultimate recognition of Canada Post issuing a Montreal Symphony stamp in 1984.

When CDs became a commercial reality in 1983, there was already a small number of OSM recordings on Decca LPs and cassettes. The critics were ecstatic, not only over the quality of the orchestral playing, but even more over the spectacular depth and clarity of the recorded sound. The marriage of those recorded performances and the new, noiseless, super-hi-fi Compact Disc could scarcely have been more propitious.

One of the earliest CD releases in the series was a sensational account of Respighi's Roman trilogy. It was one of my first CD purchases and to this day I use The Pines of Rome as a test of every new piece of audio equipment I acquire. Its sound doesn't seem dated today, more than twenty years after it was recorded.

Still, the release and the performance belong to the ancient history of the Compact Disc. If this and other MSO CDs haven't exactly disappeared from the catalogue, they no longer are as present on the dealers' shelves as they used to be.

Enter Eloquence, Universal Music's new bargain label. It consists of reissuses from labels like Decca and Philips. Earlier this year I reviewed a nice Delius collection and just recently, the present Respighi reissue appeared in the mail. If these brilliant Respighi scores appeal to you and if you don't have the original release, here's your chance to hear one of the most beautifully recorded CDs of the Eighties.