Riccardo Muti - Sergey Prokofiev: Suite from "Romeo & Juliet" (2014)

Practically any CSO Resound recording is worth hearing, not only for the extraordinary clarity and depth of the audio, but most especially for the fine concert performances of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which almost never disappoint. This live 2013 recording by Riccardo Muti and the CSO of the suite from Sergey Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet is certainly a first-rate reading, and the energetic playing and vibrant sonorities come across with remarkable details and presence, thanks to the superb engineering. The delicate string effects that are laced through the orchestration are wonderfully executed, and the rounded tones of the woodwinds and the powerful brass give the recording a special timbral richness. Yet as exemplary as this recording is, it is unusually short for a standard CD, timed at 48:50. Some listeners may balk at the program's brevity and compare it with available recordings of the complete ballet or presentations of the suite that offer a filler piece or two. Taken on its own merits, though, this recording is exceptional for its glorious music and vivid reproduction, and there will be many who will be happy with the disc as it is.