Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet

Sergey Prokofiev (Composer), Michael Steinberg (Conductor), Michael Tilson Thomas (Conductor), San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra)

Product Details

• Orchestra: San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Michael Steinberg, Michael Tilson Thomas
• Composer: Sergey Prokofiev
• Audio CD (February 27, 1996)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000003FYG
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #254,943 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
Michael Tilson Thomas's watershed disc Romeo and Juliet: Scenes from the Ballet illustrates his conductorial strengths: rhythmic drive, dramatic thrust, fairly wide tempo variations, firm control of orchestral balances, and a questing musical vision (he's assembled his own suite rather than use the standard versions). It also confirms his affinity for Russian music--he obviously relishes Prokofiev's folk-inspired tunes. There's a welcome touch of volatility, too; faster sections have a propulsive forward motion, with an explosive quality to scenes like the snappy "Folk Dance" and the fight music. The conception is symphonic--it might be hard for dancers to sustain the slow tempos imposed on some scenes--and the orchestra, aside from a hint of leanness in the strings, plays superbly. Lavishly lush sonics. A feast for the ears. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular in Every Way, January 17, 2000

By	C. Noble (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This relatively new release from BMG/RCA is a CD that you simply MUST buy. Run, don't walk, to the order button here at Amazon.com and buy this one! The packaging is bit over the top, I'll grant you that, but this is one serious release of one of Prokofiev's most beloved scores. Instead of playing an amalgomation of one or both of the suites which Prokofiev extracted from the complete score, MTT has created his own 'suite' from scratch. Many scenes from the ballet which are not included in the two original suites are heard here - and to great effect - one more reason to buy. The recorded sound is nothing less than spectacular. There is amazing detail and sonic placement on the aural soundstage. Last, and certainly not least, is the beyond world-class playing of the San Francisco Symphony and the superb musical leadership of Michael Tilson Thomas. This orchestra (in case you haven't heard them lately) is the envy of any city in the world (yes even Berlin and Vienna, in certain repertoire). The brass are bold and incisive, with an especially powerful (yet tasteful) low brass section. The strings are incandescent in the Death of Juliet, and swashbuckling and fleet in the Death of Tybalt. This all adds up to a recording which can't be missed, and shouldn't be passed up.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful playing and a very generous selection, June 26, 2006

By	Santa Fe listener - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

At 78 min., this is much more generous than other collections that pair Prokofiev's two Suites from Romeo and Juliet. The angry reviewer below is mistaken to accuse Tilson Thomas of composing any transitions of his own devising--he only placed portions of the ballet in dramatic sequence (Prokofiev's suites are in no particular order). This was MTT's first recording with RCA as music director in San Francisco, and when it was released in 1996, the U.S. reviews were rapturous.

Not so the British. The Gramophone grumbled about 'slick efficiency' and 'stickiness.' I think that's not true. The only problems that keep this recording from the highest rank, as far as my ears tell me, are first, the recorded sound. Though wide-ranging and dynamic, the original release tended to be coarse and thuddy (I don't own the reissue at mid-price, but perhaps something has been done to correct this).

The second and more important reservation isn't MTT's fault. Great conductors have already preceded him. Ancerl, Mravinsky, and Mitropoulos are among the old maestros who made outstanding versions of excerpts from the ballet. Among moderns we have had sonic blockbusters from Salonen and Abbado, both of whom dig into the score as MTT does not, and both of whom benefit from the astounding viruosity of the Berlin Phil. As for the complete ballet, versions by Lorin Maazel with the Cleveland Orch. on Decca and Gergiev with the Kirov Orch. on Philips stand out. MTT has a lighter touch than all of the above, which isn't necessarily a bad thing--his avoidance of shmaltz is admirable to me.

In fact, there are stretches here that sound just as good as the best. I can see why other listeners give this recording five stars; in light of so many great ones, I settled for four.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing vision, April 5, 2004

By	Prescott Cunningham Moore - See all my reviews

Michael Tilson Thomas is truly one of the great living conductors. The things he has been doing with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra for a decade now have been wonderful. This is one of the conductor's earliest collaborations with RCA Victor in selections from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. Although other reviews have summed up most of my feelings on this CD, I do just want to emphasize MTT's musical vision in creating his own suite. The performance is incisive, dramatic, forceful, and thoroughly pleasing. As always, the SFSO plays with totally conviction and total faith in their music director. As one of the leading Russian experts of today, MTT has created here a fantastic disc.