Customer Reviews

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet

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i've heard several recordings of prokofiev's most famous and most delightful ballet, and this is by far my favorite. unlike the usual "concert" approach to this score (maazel, ozawa, thomas), which emphasizes the dramatic narrative and treats the music as a massive tone poem, gergiev and his orchestra infuse the music with an irresistible dance energy, exactly as it would be played in a ballet performance. i often found myself tapping my foot or whistling along with the music, carried away by the spirit. the recorded sound is crisp and clear, and the orchestral playing is superb. absolutely enjoyable, start to finish. (a single cd release of excerpts from this two cd recording is also available from philips.)

Valery Gergiev has in common with Bernstein that his charisma was recognized the moment he stepped on the podium, and it's no wonder that he became a superstar in the post-Soviet era. Having just reviewed Gergiev's recent Romeo and Juliet with the London Sym., I returned to this early version with the Kirov Orch. from 1990. Both are superlative, but the younger Gergiev had a more natural way with the score and was less prone to making a show piece of every number. Playing Prokofiev's complete ballet score was rare in the West. I attended a riveting performance by Gergiev and the Kirov, and the program notes said that the complete score had never before been played in Carnegie Hall.

What stands out about this reading is that Gergiev, an extremely intelligent thinker about the long line, handles the rise and fall of the ballet so that it doesn't peak too early, doesn't turn cloying, and never exhausts the listener (he's spoken to all these points in interviews, although the subject was Mahler). Each number is exciting, but it takes its place in a very satisfying overall scheme. No other reading that I know of is so successful on that front, not even Gergiev's remake. Prokofiev's music is scintillating, and it never lets up, but Gergiev balances the lesser climaxes with the greater ones. I apologize for sounding so abstract when the score is luscious, romantic, and swooningly gorgeous. Yet I think anyone who listens for it will notice how beautifully Gergiev has structured the performance. It's welcome in both his readings that he avoids vulgarity and luridness, always a temptation in this crowd-pleasing music.

I used to complain that the sound from Philips, as recorded in St. Petersburg, was a bit rough and coarse. The latest remstering has taken care of that, but you won't mistake the recording as a sonic blockbuster. It doesn't need to be. On its own, this is an early indication that Gergiev deserves his superstar status.

With this outstanding work, Prokoviev faithfully reaches the synthesis between the brilliant dryness of his first Op. and the overwhelming poetical feature that now besieges instances more lyrically relaxed. This impressive kaleidoscopic range that allowed him to cross over with fluidity about the evocation of the scenes as a whole such the party in the house of the Capuletos , Verona's carnival that really implies a lyrical focus that accompanies the secret encounters of both protagonists that demands an instrumental decorative righteousness to this cantabile line bathed in melancholy.

It would be said that no other composer in the past captured with such incisive, demolishing expressiveness and clear-sighted poignancy, the most devastating tragedy of the literature.

Prokoviev's compositional powers and his overpowering imagination could express and depict with admirable detail the entire spirit of these young lovers who had everything to be happy; but as all of us are aware Shakespeare remarks over and over the impossibility to achieve the bliss in the western world, like the Guinevere's forbidden love.

The performance given by Valery Gergiev (August 1990)is splendid and memorable. He and his orchestra devoted themselves with astounding fruition, dynamism, mesmerizing flair and steeled conviction the minimum facets of this extraordinary ballet.

I must say that I really got yesterday afternoon this memorable recording and I have to subscribe my unison admiration by such artistic feat.

It's absolutely impossible for you my dear reader not to get this sumptuous and amazing register. The format, marvelous sound and the information contained in the booklet make of this double album a gratifying and successful version,

Unmissable.

The number of great works of classical orchestra music diminished from the 18th to the 20th century. I would rate Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet ballet music as one of the truly great musical works of the 20th century. This music is not difficult to listen to. It expresses every human experience and emotion: Joy and grief, love and hate, war and peace, tranquillity and catastrophy, life and death. The Kirov orchestra renders a stunning performance of this work, and Philips produced two exciting recordings. Excerpts of this recording are also available as a single CD from Philips. Busy listeners may prefer the single recording.

Prokofiev

Romeo and Juliet

Valery Gergiev
Kirov Orchestra, Leningrad

(Philips - complete ballet on 2 CD's - DDD + remastered)

I have had the original CD version of this great performance for many years and am pleased that they have now released it in a 24-bit transfer, which no doubt will make it even more special. This is a spectacular performance and I highly recommend it to you. This version deserves a Sixth Star!