Sergei Prokofiev: Romeo And Juliet, The Three Suites

Description

This unusual recording presents the entirety of Prokofiev’s highlights from his ballet Romeo and Juliet: all three suites are performed, with the twenty movements in the order in which they appear in the ballet. Lasting a little over half the duration of the complete Romeo and Juliet, they preserve the outline of the narrative and together give a full picture of Prokofiev’s gift for bringing characters, scenes and situations to life in music of vivid, striking power: aggressive energy in the fight music, neo-classical elegance in the courtly dances, and above all great lyrical beauty in the music for the two young lovers and the cruel series of events that leads to their tragic demise. All this is brought to us by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra– whose Grieg cycle on BIS was a notable critical success – conducted by its music director Andrew Litton, making his first recording for BIS. 'All the performances on this CD are given with such zest and affection that all possible criticism is swept aside' - Gramophone praising The Bergen Philharmonic on another BIS disc, BISSACD1191 (Grieg: Piano Concerto).