Charles Dutoit’s Prokofiev never has figured prominently among first-rate recommendations. This Double Decca re-release offers a chance at reassessment. While the heavyweight Alexander Nevsky cantata has not lacked for excellent interpretations (Reiner, Abbado, and Schippers among them), this 1990 recording generally was overlooked and unfairly dismissed, thus raising the question of what it lacks. Other than a rather faint-hearted “Song of Alexander Nevsky” and a general absence of “nationalistic” zeal from the chorus, this recording captures all the punch and excitement necessary to make this piece eventful, with sound that’s surprisingly good quality for its time. The climactic “Battle on the Ice” highlights the amazing virtuosity of the Montreal orchestra going full tilt with frantic percussion and fabulously rich lower brass, resulting in one of the quicker and more riveting renditions in the current catalog (although not quite as unbridled as Schippers’ performance, now available in a single-layer multi-channel SACD). The bass drum comes across with near-apocalyptic strength during its prominent passages in this work, as well as in the delightfully sparkling Lieutenant Kijé suite that follows (check out the thunderous strokes during Kijé’s birth). Disc 1 finishes with the quirky Love for Three Oranges Suite, the sort of showcase work that this orchestra dispatches with all its customary panache.
The second disc is more of a mixed bag. After all these years, Silvio Varviso’s 1966 recording of the The Stone Flower excerpts still suffers from drabness and mediocre orchestral playing. Better to avoid this selection and stick with the better 1992 performance by Neeme Järvi with the Philharmonia Orchestra on Chandos. Vladimir Ashkenazy gives a suitably evocative reading of the composer’s early Scriabinesque Dreams without ever letting the tempo slacken. Rudolf Barshai’s prismatic orchestration of Visions Fugitives works exceedingly well, as the strings are ideal for bringing out and sustaining the individual lines in these expressive miniatures. All in all, this release provides an inexpensive way to re-engage with some unjustly forgotten recordings of works that span Prokofiev’s illustrious career.
