Your guide to classical music online

A Staid Romeo and Juliet

Victor Carr Jr

Artistic Quality:

Sound Quality:

This 1994 recording is from the early years of Naxos when the label’s budget pricing for recordings of standard repertoire attracted many new classical music listeners, but the performances, often by lesser-known Eastern European orchestras, could range from first-rate to not so hot. While Andrew Mogrelia led an intermittently interesting Tchaikovsky Sleeping Beauty for this same label, his Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet falls flat, mainly due to his unimaginative and lackluster conducting. Most everything is slow and cautious, as if the orchestra were sight-reading.

Public Merrymaking comes across more like Public Quilt Making, while Tybalt sounds to have been gently beaten to death by a foam rubber sword. The Ukraine Symphony plays with admirable precision but little excitement and no discernible daring. The Balcony Scene and associated love music have so little ardor that you soon tire of it (the orchestra’s small string complement doesn’t help), which is problematic as Prokofiev repeats it quite often. The recording is somewhat cavernous, but clear and detailed. Happily, those wanting an inexpensive R&J disc don’t have to settle for this. Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony’s marvelous RCA recording is available at mid-price, and worth much more.


Recording Details:

Reference Recording: Thomas (RCA); Järvi (Chandos)

  • Record Label: Naxos - 8.572928
  • Medium: CD

Search Music Reviews

Search Sponsor

  • Insider Reviews only
  • Click here for Search Tips

Visit Our Merchandise Store

Visit Store
  • Ideally Cast Met Revival of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette
    Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, NY; March 19, 2024—The Met has revived Bartlett Sher’s 1967 production of Gounod’s R&J hot on the heels of its
  • An Ozawa Story, November, 1969
    Much has justifiably been written regarding Seiji Ozawa’s extraordinary abilities and achievements as a conductor, and similarly about his generosity, graciousness, and sense of humor
  • Arvo Pärt’s Passio At St. John The Divine
    Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York, NY; January 26, 2024—When one thinks of musical settings of Christ’s Passion, one normally thinks of the