Summing up this performance in a nutshell (for the whole shebang, type Q7072 in Search Reviews), it gets better as it goes and closes with scorching fourth and fifth movements. It’s not subtle, but it is exciting and great fun. The cantata, on the other hand, is best avoided: Olga Borodina is a lousy Cleopatra, period. Sonically, stereo is much to be preferred over multi-channel SACD. While there’s no loss of impact as a result of the surround-sound format, the orchestra image is a completely confused mess, with odd reflections popping out of the back speakers and very little sense of consistent directionality to the sound. It’s more what you’d expect when watching a movie in surround-sound, and if this were Spider Man or some such it would be fine, but I don’t want to hear the violins behind me and the brass sometimes in front and sometimes in back. Of course, if you like that sort of thing, then by all means indulge.
