Vassily Petrenko; Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra - Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet, Op.64 (Complete Ballet)

Following their successful first release of Scriabin�s Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4, praised by The Sunday Times as �brilliantly played�, the Oslo Philharmonic under Chief Conductor Vasily Petrenko releases its anticipated second recording on Lawo Classics.This stunning recording presents Prokofiev�s scintillating score for his ballet Romeo and Juliet, recorded here in its entirety - which is a first for the orchestra as well as its conductor. The Oslo Philharmonic recorded Suites Nos. 1 and 2 under Mariss Jansons in 1989, but never the complete ballet up until this point.Prokofiev�s imaginative orchestration has made the ballet Romeo and Juliet world-famous, primarily through the orchestral suites as opposed to the ballet as a whole. Unmistakably a child of the Rimsky-Korsakov school of orchestration, Prokofiev�s orchestra arsenal for the ballet includes tenor saxophone, four mandolins, cornet, celesta, organ, piano and a number of percussion instruments.The Bolshoi premiere of Romeo and Juliet was postponed, with the official reasons given were that the ballet was too �difficult� and its music �impossible to dance to�, however it is believed that there were other underlying reasons of a more politically complicated nature. The ballet finally saw its premiere in Brno, Czechoslovakia, in 1938, with a revised version being performed at the Mariinsky Theatre � renamed Kirov Theatre � in 1940. It is this version of Romeo and Juliet that has become one of the twentieth century�s most performed and recorded ballets.The Oslo Philharmonic�s creative partnership with the LAWO label continues to grow; already in the pipeline is the next instalment of the orchestra�s complete Scriabin symphony cycle, the first being the 2015 recording of Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4, which will be the composer�s Symphony No. 1 with Alisa Kolosova and Maksim Aksenov as soloists.