When it was originally released in 1987,
Neeme Järvi's coupling of
Prokofiev's cantata Alexander Nevsky and Scythian Suite was easily the most popular entry in his survey of the Soviet composer's miscellaneous orchestral works. This was, of course, easily understandable since the two pieces are among the most popular of
Prokofiev's miscellaneous orchestral works, the cantata for its unbearable intensity and overwhelming power and the suite for its unrelenting rage and unrestrained colors. Reissued in 2008 with their running-oddly order reversed and the addition of the same composer's suite from his ballet Le pas d'acier, the disc could prove to be popular again. But one wonders if new listeners will be any more impressed with the performances than the old listeners.
Järvi, a talented conductor with a more than passable technique, clearly knows how the works go, but he seems to have little idea of why they work. With the muscular but not especially refined playing of the Scottish National Orchestra,
Järvi turns in a Nevsky that's all bluster and bombast -- don't come to this performance looking for a emotional subtlety -- and a suite that's all shock and awe -- don't come to it hoping for poise or balance. Some could argue that Nevsky is hardly subtle and the suite is scarcely balanced. But without nuance and gradation, the works are more fury than sound, signifying not much more. For performances that lack neither power nor polish, try
Claudio Abbado's Deutsche Grammophon recording with the
Chicago Symphony.
As was the usual practice at the time, Chandos' early digital recording has a very wide dynamic range, but a very shallow sound stage.