Prokofiev: Symphony No. 4 in C major, Op. 112 (revised version)

Following the recent re-issues of Prokofiev orchestral works, Chandos now releases the superb Neeme Jarvi and Scottish National Orchestra recordings of Prokofiev’s seven symphonies. Prokofiev has had few ambassadors as committed as Jarvi, and they are now available at 24-bit/96kHz on Chandos Classics.

“No one is more warmly dramatic in Prokofiev than Jarvi, making his issues consistently recommendable.” (The Guardian.)

“These Chandos recordings from the mid-1980s are of the highest quality.” (Penguin Guide)

This 4-CD set is available at the price of 3 CDs.

Following the successful publication on Cappriccio of all Shostakovich’s symphonies on CD, Dmitrij Kitajenko once again collaborates with the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln to perform the complete recording of all of Sergey Prokofiev’s seven symphonies. Together they embark on a very challenging project, both in terms of time and level of technical difficulty, a project that demanded huge efforts and potential from the orchestra conductor alike.

Prokofiev’s symphonies could not be more varied. They were written at different times throughout the composer’s life and each one individually reflects the pressure of political dictatorship and forced submission to merciless censorship that was prevalent throughout the Soviet-era. On the other hand, the huge energy, the hopes and desires, emotional and social messages conveyed between the lines could not be vanquished even by dictators and censors.

Dimitrji Kitajenko, the Lenningrad born conductor, was a child of the late Russian-socialist period so knows exactly how to decrypt the text and shows us how in every single phase of this new complete recording.