“the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra play with a ravishing warmth. Clearly the orchestra has been well rehearsed. The brass playing is monumentally precision perfect; Liebermann’s music… is of extraordinary complexity. This is an especially densely written ballet in places in others it is quite the opposite, open to making orchestral players feel very exposed – and yet the orchestral playing is brilliant enough that details emerge with astonishing clarity. Those great sweeping string passages at the climax of track Nr.31 do not occlude for one moment the flutes so perfectly judged is the instrumental balance. Martin West directs what is a thrilling, passionate and dramatic account of the score. Some tracks are just electrifying. The sound gives a very warm palate to the performance; it almost feels autumnal under the glow of the recording. Although it is live, stage action doesn’t seem that much of an issue – although there is applause included at the end of each act. I can’t imagine this ballet receiving better advocacy than it does here. … this score will easily sweep you along with it as you listen to it. At its best, the music here is extraordinarily powerful and uncommonly sumptuous. A symphonic masterpiece trapped within the confines of a ballet.”
—Marc Bridle, MusicWeb International
See the full review on musicweb-international.com