Search - Prokofiev, Slatkin, St Louis So :: Ivan the Terrible (Hybr) (Omr)

Just fabulous

J. S. Bower | UK | 07/14/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Like its companion recording (Alexander Nevsky) this is an awe-inspiring recording and fabulous music making. Hyperbolic? I would give it six stars if I could.



Seriously, I could rave on about its analog-era timbral accuracy, tonal neutrality, air, staging, dynamic range and dimensionality (yes, I'm afraid I really could). But, ultimately what matters is that this is an incredibly realistic recording of huge orchestral and choral forces playing in a real acoustic. And you don't run across one of those every day!



The Nickrenz/Aubort recordings of the 70s represent a late flowering of the art of analog recording. And this is truly one of their best.



The young Slatkin and his St Louis Orchestra surpass themselves. As a lover of the great Eisenstein film, the whole experience just takes you back to the great evocative scenes of the dark Ivan by the window whilst his troops stream past, the storming of Kazan and so on.



This is one of the few Mobile Fidelity recuts still available at non-obscene prices, so you know what you have to do. Run, do NOT walk to your nearest PC and order it at once.



You won't be sorry."