David Harbin:

>Could I please aks for recommendations of Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet
>(need not be complete).  I'd like stunning sound and playing with rich
>bass and timpani, virtuoso conducting with some quicksilver tempi
>when required and a sense of 'story' and emotion.  That's all!

The sound is a bit like an aircraft hangar, but on all other counts,
you can't go past Karel Ancerl and the Czech Philharmonic's excerpts on
Supraphon, recorded in 1959 and reissued a number of times.  While I wouldn't
be without Maazel's (on Decca) or Previn's (on EMI) complete versions, I
still regret that Ancerl didn't do the whole ballet.  What we do have is,
IMO, a great recording of the century.

Richard Pennycuick
[log in to unmask]