Heard this on the radio last week. I love Respighi, he is very clever and innovative. He has the special rare gift of melody, like Grieg, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Chet Baker, Paul McCartney, etc. These suites are written in 20th century in modern harmonic style to mimic ancient music styles. It's not as sarcastic as Prokofiev's 1st Symphony designed to rub in his fearful traditionalist critics' faces his ability to compose in the traditional classical style while choosing not to. This is more genuine, a reverence for the old ways, longing for the simplicity of the old forms, while constructing them with modern technique and "latest composite materials."
Respighi's Ancient Airs & Dances Suites 1 and 3 are very popular recordings, but Suite 2 is not very common. It has 3 slow (boring) movements, and one faster movement that is played by itself a lot on radio.
I first got the DG recording of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra playing suites 1 & 3 and other Respighi chamber works a decade ago. They skipped Suite 2, but this is a truly magnificent audiophile recording. Everyone I've given it to raves about the sound of it, the lively performances and the intense instrumental timbres. I craved hearing the 2nd suite with that same level of performance and recording quality.
So I bought the Mercury Presence version of Ancient Airs and Dances with Antal Dorati. It has all three suites, but I only listened to it once and forgot about it.
This one on EMI Angel has Neville Marriner conducting LA Chamber Orchestra on all three suites. I only heard the (whole) 2nd suite on the radio but it was really awesome. Recorded 1976, it doesn't have the shimmering edgy timbre like the Orpheus recording, but the performance is great.