PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 1, “Classical”; Symphony No....

PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 1, “Classical”; Symphony No. 5. Atlanta Symphony, conducted by Yoel Levi. Telarc CD-80289. Recent recordings have shown Levi to be a superior technician, steadily turning the Atlanta Symphony, for which he serves as music director, into a top-notch orchestra. Missing, however, is a sense of the conductor’s full engagement or deep understanding of the music, in note-perfect, just-the-facts interpretations. For all its surface sparkle, his account of the “Classical” Symphony lacks wit and shuns elegance. Levi seems the reincarnation of the old-style taskmaster-conductor in music-making tightly controlled, hard-driven and ultimately unkind.