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| EMI Forte (Mid price) (CD) CZS5 68607-2
(two discs: 149 minutes: ADD). Notes included. From HMV SLS864 (12/73). |
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| EMI Forte (Mid price) (CD) CZS5 68604-2
(two discs: 127 minutes: a DDD/ b ADD). Synopsis included. Item marked a
from SLS143595-3 (12/83), b HMV ASD3556 (11/78). |
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| Romeo and Juliet – selected comparisons: |
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| Cleveland Orch, Maazel (2/87) (DECC) 417
510-2DH2 |
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| Boston SO, Ozawa (2/88) (DG) 423 268-2GH2 |
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| Cinderella – comparative versions: |
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| Cleveland Orch, Ashkenazy (8/86) (DECC) 410
162-2DH2 |
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| Russian Nat Orch, Pletnev (6/95) (DG) 445
830-2GH2 |
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| Classical Symphony – selected
comparison: |
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| LAPO, Previn (9/94) (PHIL) 442 399-2PM |
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It is good to have Andre Previn’s 1973 set
of Romeo and Juliet restored to circulation at such a reasonable price. The EMI
recording (masterminded by Christopher Parker) still sounds pretty sumptuous and the
legendary Kingsway bloom remains mercifully intact on CD. Compared with Maazel’s
dazzlingly assured Clevelanders, Previn’s hard-working LSO can sound just a touch
cautious and technically fallible. Ozawa’s Boston players also display great
virtuosity (with no trace of the slightly self-aware ‘brilliance’ that slightly
mars Maazel’s account) and his DG performance evinces an exquisite sophistication and
endearing balletic poise that I like very much indeed. Yet Previn’s affectionate,
wittily pointed reading has its place too: many will rightly respond to its sense of easy
spontaneity, tender restraint and unaffected honesty. It is, in sum, a more relaxed, less
relentlessly high-powered affair than either of those distinguished transatlantic rivals,
but no less compelling for that.
Previn’s admirable Cinderella
appeared originally on LP in 1983 but was never transferred to CD in its entirety, EMI
opting for a single-disc ‘highlights’ compilation instead. It has, I must say,
come up quite beautifully in this new transfer, the Abbey Road production (Grubb/Parker)
possessing a most appealing warmth and lustre. Previn’s imaginative, highly
sympathetic direction combines both warm-hearted affection as well as a most seductive
theatrical flair (the whole of Act 2 is particularly memorable in this regard).
Throughout, the LSO respond with considerable dash and character: just occasionally, the
strings are wanting in the last ounce of finesse and absolute technical security, but the
woodwind contribution is especially felicitous. Returning to the much-acclaimed (and
immaculately honed) Pletnev set, I persist in finding it a comparatively chilly,
charm-free zone. Ashkenazy’s handsomely engineered Cleveland account is a better bet,
though still not always ideally involving. On balance, I think this competitively priced
Forte reissue would now be my first choice. Unfortunately, the ‘bonus’ item
– an enthusiastic, but distractingly scrappy Classical Symphony – struck
me as far from ideal (this isn’t a patch on Previn’s own supremely stylish Los
Angeles remake for Philips). No matter, a bargain all the same.
AA