The Temptress

Prokofiev's 1927 ballet Le Pas d'Acier (The Step of Steel), given here in its rarely encountered complete form, is known for its motoric character and colorful scoring. Its sketchy story concerns the industrialization of the fledgling Soviet Union. Michail Jurowski's reading of the score is fairly straightforward and features excellent sound and fine playing by the WDR Sinfonie Orchester Köln. But occasionally the pacing is a bit deliberate and the phrasing bland, as in the opening number "Entrée des personages" and in the closing pair "Les Marteaux" (No. 10) and Finale (No. 11). The mechanistic qualities of the music – so essential to any good performance of this work – certainly come through with power in these numbers, and the epic and festive character of "Changement de décors" (No. 7) is brilliantly realized. Overall, it's a strong, if slightly flawed effort.