Thanks Martin - I have this recording in my collection, most likely on your recommendation, but not sure if I've listened to it all yet, so this is a good chance to rectify that.

I'm struggling with this on latest listening - it just feels badly dated and can't compare with a work like his Pines which is utterly timeless.

I'm not against Orientalist works - Scheherazade does it for me every time. Nothing wrong with the performance or the quality of the scoring here but it kind of reminds me of a soundtrack for a not very good 50's Technicolour epic and I tired of it fairly quickly ... I suspect it would at least be a lot more fun on the big rig and the climax is very well done indeed.