Romeo & Juliet

This brilliant recording is Sir Colin Davis's second shot at Hector Berlioz's setting of Roméo et Juliette, and it proves one of the best- justified cases for rethinking a score to be found on disc. There are splendid performances from mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina (one of the few Russian singers who perform non-Slavic works satisfactorily for the Western ear), tenor Thomas Moser, bass Alastair Miles, and, not least, the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, whose chorusmaster, unforgivably, is not named in the cast list. Sir Colin achieves some particularly stirring effects in the instrumental section. This is a fine achievement. --Sarah Bryan Miller