There have been countless settings of Shakespeare's works by composers both great and not-so-great. Highlights include Tchaikovsky's famous and beautiful Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, several of Verdi's best operas, including Macbeth and Otello, Berlioz's Lelio, and of course the multitude of settings of A Midsummer Night's Dream, notably those of Mendelssohn and Britten.

This month's clip brings one of the more lively and famous settings of that great favorite, Romeo and Juliet -- Prokofiev's take on the star-crossed lovers. A favorite of the concert hall, largely because of Prokofiev's suites, the full ballet is still popular. This able recording with Maazel is the best I own, though I think he takes the excerpt sampled below just a touch too fast. What do you think?