I have usually despaired with EMI's transfers of their old 1940s and 1950s recordings - the Cantelli and Karajan/Philharnonia ones being amongst the worst offenders (the Furtwängler/Menuhin Beethoven VC is another). Oddly, the Columbia ALP pressings have been amongst some of my best experiences, especially of the Menuhin recording (although this exists in 'stereo' in Japan). The ALP of the Cantelli R&J was my introduction to this recording - but it has never been matched on a CD.
The tragedy of almost no Cantelli stereo was brought home a few years back when I came across a previously unissued Ravel Daphnis & Chloe excerpt with the Philharmonia that was also done as a test in stereo. It's barely 8 minutes of music but it's astonishing. Cantelli's attention to instrumental colour and balance is just phenomenal in stereo. Celibidache/Stuttgart is quite similar.
In his excellent tribute to Guido Cantelli to commemorate what would have been his 100th birthday (https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2020/Dec/Cantelli-100.htm), Mr. Bridle laments the lack of a good sounding Romeo and Juliet.
This was recently posted on YouTube. I think the sound is fantastic. Hope you enjoy this as much as I have!
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