Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade - Antal Dorati

A Great Scheherazade

The Dorati Scheherazade is a great recording. None of the boomy tubbyness I associate with recordings of the Minneapolis Sym. The trumpets are spectacular. Dorati’s incisive sense of rhythm is fully evident.

Good Performance, Excellent Remastering

Dating from December 1958, this was Antal Dorati's second Minneapolis recording of Rimsky's perennially fresh and vibrant orchestral suite for Mercury. The performance is very good. But because there are occasions when the tension slips, Rafael Drurian's playing of the solo violin part lacks projection and the woodwind playing is provincial, it can't really compare with Kempe and the RPO (World Record Club), Markevitch and the LSO (Philips) or Svetlanov and the USSR SO (Melodiya). The sound is excellent, with plenty of clarity and definition, but like so many recordings of that era it lacks weight and the violin tone is thin. The DSD256 transfer however is the best around and sounds just as good as the first label US LP it was compared with.