Title: Ideally paced, beautifully played Romeo and Juliet
Product review: This strikes me as ideal, and from a performance viewpoint only (not taking into account the quality of the sound), I'd rank it above Gergiev's recent and highly acclaimed recording. The tempos throughout are especially well-chosen, transitioning from introspective moments into dramatic scenes in very natural way, while keeping the story moving forward and joining all the different scenes into a unified whole. Gergiev also creates a fairly unified whole, but he does so through the use of consistently brisk (read: sometime rushed) tempos that don't suit the character of many scenes as much as Ermler's do here. The playing is excellent, and the recording is very sweet-toned and with a natural perspective on the orchestra (compared to the slightly more closely-miked Gergiev). The 1994 digital sound has just slightly less presence, however, than the best recordings made today. Would very much like to see this remastered and re-released.
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