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Review by mwgfrg June 20, 2011 (8 of 17 found this review helpful)
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| Disappointing because of a fatal sonic flaw: the massed upper strings simply disappear into the overall orchestral picture. There is no bite, no impact, just a syrupy, bland, congealed tonal balance. Given the excellence of the performance--like the preceding SACD of the 4th Symphony, both of which are superior to Pletnev's earlier DG RBCD performances of these works--this is a real shame. As with the 4th, the lower strings and brass are rich and warm, and solo instruments are smooth and convincing, but, especially in Francesca, where the first violins take such command in depicting the swirling orchestral figurations, the performances fall flat on their face. A quick comparison with fine LP and RBCD versions of earlier analog performances like Stokowski's and Rostropovich's demonstrates what is missing. Thinking there might be something wrong with my system, I put the 4th Symphony on for direct comparison, and was reminded once again how fine Pentatone's recording can be. Maybe others will hear this one differently, but what I hear is a bad mistake on someone's part either in microphone placement or in balancing after completion.
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Sonics: 
