No one, least of all Muti, is likely to dispute that this is one of his finest recordings. Recorded in the 'Indian summer' of London's Kingsway Hall, it puts to shame some more recent recordings one could mention; it also accommodates nicely on to a well-filled CD (at almost 74 minutes) and should not on any acccount be missed. Of course, the fragmentary nature of the music—much more evidently a collection of film score links than Alexander Nevsky—is, to a degree, frustrating (some of the underscoring is spread rather thin), but such is the fervour of the performance, the fulsome theatricality of Boris Morgunov's narration, that one is simply carried along by the 'visual' excitement of it all: the scenes of pageantry (''I will be Tsar!'' and ''Long Life!'' with their panoply of bells), of dramatic conflict (Prokofiev's weighty deployment of trombones and bass tuba finds the Philharmonia brass in tip-top form). The Ambrosian Chorus contribute an impressive imitation of the genuine Russian article, summoning up the requisite ballast for the big numbers, amply filling out one of the greatest of all Prokofiev 'tunes' in the ''Storming of Kazan'' sequence: this is the noble cantilena that would later feature so prominently in War and Peace.
If you are planning on sampling before buying, try the raucous ''Dance of the Oprichniki'' and the finale. Was there ever a more resplendant final chord? All 28 seconds of it!'