Barnes & Noble

Stravinsky would surely have approved of these brightly colored, rhythmically straight-forward performances. Paavo Järvi concentrates on the music's complex texture, eliciting playing of astonishing clarity from the Cincinnati Symphony. He knows when to relax the tempo and how to shape a melody, but it's the energy provided by the interplay of lines that makes this account so compelling. Such consistent rhythmic tautness creates tremendous excitement in "The Infernal Dance of King Katschei" (in the Firebird Suite), and Telarc's superbly engineered recording is exciting in its own right. Yet there is delicacy, too, particularly in Petrushka, where some of the solo passages take on an almost lonely character -- appropriately, too, given the story of this sad puppet. A thought-provoking and satisfying disc. Strongly recommended. Andrew Farach-Colton

Gramophone

Paavo Järvi's new Telarc coupling of Petrushka and The Firebird Suite is outstanding in every way.... This CD not only offers truly memorable performances, splendidly played, but demonstration sound that audiophiles will surely relish. Ivan March