The Symphony is great; the Romeo & Juliet isn't
04/18/1999
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This recording of Prokofiev's fifth symphony is a wonderful demonstration of the Philharmonic's powerful brass. The recording itself is slightly less intense than many others, but it has a character all its own. The Romeo & Juliet has its moments, but in general it is quite sloppy for a studio recording. One looking for a wonderful recording of this music could easily do better. The strange thing about this CD is that the symphony is a LIVE recording, and it is nonetheless much better TECHNICALLY than the R & J suite!! I would buy this CD for the symphony, and try to find a better recording of Romeo."