All these discs have their merits, but the Decca/Dutoit selection from Romeo and Juliet—Prokofiev's greatest orchestral work—is in a class of its own. First of all, the choice of items seems to me ideal. The suites are irrelevant in gramophone terms (Prokofiev could not have anticipated CDs!). Dutoit picks two dozen of the ballet's 52 numbers and plays them in narrative order, so that the listener can follow the development of the music as the story unfolds (though each number is self-contained). Moreover, the orchestral playing is graceful, elegant, vivid and, when called for, powerful, and essentially full of warm lyrical feeling. The recording, too, is in Decca's superlative demonstration class and by that I don't mean it is self-consciously spectacular. But when Prokofiev's spectacular moments arrive they are presented with great technical flair. ''The Quarrel'' (track 5) is splendidly projected, with the bass drum resounding at the end; ''The Prince gives his order'' (track 7) is certainly commanding, while the brass entry and thundering drums in ''Juliet's funeral'' are quite riveting in their sonic splendour, yet elsewhere the ear is mainly conscious of the naturalness of the sound.
The famous Montreal acoustics bring a sometimes diaphanously transparent allure when strings and woodwind are playing quietly, as in ''Juliet, as a young girl'' (track 8)—a particularly tender portrait—or in the gossamer high violins of ''Folk Dance'' (track 13), or the sentient languor of the flutes in the ''Dance of the Knights'' (track 11). Yet they do not cloud the bustle of ''The Fight'' (track 6), the precise rhythms of ''Masks'' (track 10), the positively garrulous Russian ''Dance'' (track 15) and the dramatic scene of the Tybalt / Mercutio fight (track 16).
Dutoit catches all the score's nostalgia: there is some wonderfully delicate woodwind playing in ''The last farewell''. However, the one element missing here is the sense of heart-rending tragedy, and the sheer desolation of the plot's denouement. The lovers' own music in ''Romeo and Juliet'' (the balcony scene) has eloquence and ardour but no feeling of desperate desire. Others have captured that more eloquently, notably Yoel Levi with the Cleveland Orchestra on Telarc/Conifer ((CD) CD80089, 2/87) and Salonen with the Berlin Philharmonic on CBS ((CD) CD42662, 8/88). But even so, in its more emotionally relaxed manner this Decca disc is very enjoyable indeed, not least for the way it reveals the many felicities of Prokofiev's scoring.
Jarvi's Chandos disc has the three suites which were previously issued, coupled with other works, between 1985 and 1987. The selection is generous (78'00'' against 75'00'' on Decca), and the discs are offered at a special price (about £9·99). His music-making is generally more theatrical and dramatic than Dutoit's and there is lots of bite in the playing. This is emphasized by the more abrasive digital sound: the extremely vigorous opening ''Folk Dance'' is made pungent and the ''Minuet'' (track 4) has a fierceness more appropriate to the ''Death of Tybalt'' (track 6), which is very dramatic indeed, coming after ''Romeo and Juliet'', where the playing has the widest range of dynamic and espressivo.
This is not to say that Jarvi does not find a light touch for the gentler numbers: ''Juliet, as a young girl'' (track 9) is delightfully portrayed, while the ''Friar Laurence'' sequence (track 10) has a sombre nobility and the engaging ''Morning Dance'' of Suite No. 3 (track 19) has much delicacy of feeling. The tragic side of the music is more forcefully conveyed by Jarvi—the orchestral characterization is strong, helped by the vivid sound—and ''Romeo and Juliet before parting'' (track 12) brings superbly thrustful horn playing, while the closing ''Death of Juliet'' has a spacious, powerful eloquence.
The Naxos selection at super-bargain price is certainly good value. The character of the playing is less mellow than with Dutoit, less spikily dramatic than with Jarvi. The opening sequence of Suite No. 3, ''Romeo at the fountain'' immediately conveys the atmosphere of the music-making: there is a plangent Prokovian colouring to the sound, and more intimacy of feeling, too, partly brought about by the actual size of the orchestra. In the awakening Verona street scene (track 2) there is some delightful playing from both principal bassoon and strings, and the portrait of ''Juliet'' which follows the boisterous ''Morning Dance'' has a graceful balletic feel. The rhythms of the more energetic movements, ''Masks'' for instance, are infectious and rhythmically buoyant, while the poignancy of the balcony scene is well caught, although here one ideally needs a bigger violin sound than the Kosice orchestra can produce. But the string playing itself is very good, and there is plenty of drama at the ''Death of Tybalt'', pungent and powerful, as is the ballet's tragic denouement. There is much less music here than on the other two CDs, but the excerpts still give a reasonable survey of Prokofiev's great score, and the recording has good range, weight and a suitably spacious ambience.
Jarvi's Cinderella selection (at 55 minutes) is much less generous than that on his companion Romeo CD and though some excerpts are taken from previously issued records some have been newly recorded. Even so, the CD seems to me to be distinctly overpriced. The playing is undoubtedly very much alive and certainly vibrant, but the recording could have used a degree more of the Montreal mellowness. The massed strings for Prokofiev's big romantic tune in the ''Introduction'' sound a little grainy. The score's more abrasive features project well, and woodwind colours are bold. But at times one needs more charm. Certainly when midnight strikes at the end of the first suite the effect is apocalyptic in its explosive spectacle.
The Naxos disc, which includes nearly an hour of excerpts from Lieutenant Kije, The Love for Three Oranges and the two ballets, is highly recommendable. The Kije Suite is enjoyably vivid; the boisterous climax of the ''Birth'' sequence, with enthusiastic drum-banging, is very good humoured. The ''Troika'' has fine verve, too, and a delicious piccolo obbligato comes through nicely, while after the ''Burial'', the music recedes nostalgically into the far distance. In The Love for Three Oranges the witty high spirits of the ''March'' and ''Scherzo'' are emphasized, rather than the abrasive dissonance; and the ''Romance'' is delightfully gentle. The two excerpts from Romeo and Juliet are (sensibly) not included in Mogrelia's fuller selection, and the ''Dance of the girls with the lilies'' is particularly delectable.
The Cinderella Suite is short but admirably chosen and offers much felicitous playing, especially from the flute (representing the ''Fairy Godmother'' elegantly). ''Cinderella's Waltz'' has much charm and swings engagingly and the ''Midnight'' sequence, while not lacking drama, does not go over the top. Very good recording, with plenty of ambient effect, enhances the pleasure to be had from the disc.'