Prokofiev, S.: Lieutenant Kije Suite / the Tale of the Stone Flower / Dreams / Andante / Autumnal Sketch

Featuring

Neeme Järvi
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Sergei Prokofiev

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Composer Biography

Prokofiev died suddenly on March 5, 1953, the same evening he finished revising an Adagio for his ballet The Stone Flower, and on the same day Joseph Stalin died.

Composer Biography

Sergey Prokofiev composed the suite Lieutenant Kijé from his first film score in 1933, after deciding to return permanently to his native country following fifteen years in the West.

Composition History

The film Lieutenant Kijé, for which Prokofiev wrote the score, was a satire on the foibles of Tsar Paul I, based on a story by Yury Tynyanov called 'The Tsar Sleeps'.

Performer Biography

Neeme Järvi, the conductor on this album, has amassed a discography of over 400 recordings, with more than 150 for Chandos, and holds honorary degrees from several universities.

Recording & Production

The recordings for this album were made at Henry Wood Hall, Glasgow, in 1985 for 'Dreams' and at Caird Hall, Dundee, in 1989 for the other works.

Composition History

Prokofiev's Andante, originally the third movement of his String Quartet No. 1, Op. 50, was commissioned by the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., after his 1930 US concert tour.

Historical Context

In 1948, Prokofiev and other leading Soviet composers were officially censured for 'formalist perversions and undemocratic tendencies' in their music.