Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev 'Romeo and Juliet'

A good intelligently conceived pairing, steady of pulse, grippingly and transparently recorded and totally committed.

Otaka is a conductor I now follow closely – rather belated, I grant you. The trigger was his Rachmaninov - first the piano concertos with Lill and then the symphonies. His readings impress and so do the Nimbus recordings made in the Brangwyn Hall. Interestingly his teachers were Keilberth, Sawallisch, Matacic and Saito. With this disc he turns his hand to two Russians' ways with Romeo and Juliet.
 
For the 40 minute eight movement ballet suite by Prokofiev Otaka takes the way of fragile delicacy and luxuriant epic tempi. Certainly he will not be rushed.
 
The recording delivers in sheer horsepower as well as in subtlety. The first can be appreciated in the contrast between whispered tension and blurted out fortissimo in the first movement. The way the solo cello pages reach out to you from the Right Hand speaker in The Child Juliet is unique and most tellingly done. Otaka suits me very well not least because he excels at the extremes of yielding innocence and black tragedy. At Otaka's broader pace detail after detail emerges to satisfying effect. If you fear that he weakens the faster movements try the final one in this sequence: Death of Tybalt which fairly pelts along.
 
The Tchaikovsky is very well known. Otaka's approach is typically studied and controlled so that every detail and nuance of emotion registers. Once again though you will need to be ready for a more lingering pace. Every strand is exhibited and score-reading should be a delight for this reason. Please do not think that this is a reading without drama. Hearing the piercing sawing sound at 13:44 soon banishes such fears. A good and distinctively personal take on a warhorse tone poem.
 
A good intelligently conceived pairing, steady of pulse, grippingly and transparently recorded and totally committed.
 
Rob Barnett, Musicweb-international.com