Orchestral suites by Prokofiev & Chatschaturjan
Disc 1
Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953)
Summer Night Suite, op. 123
Scythian Suite, op. 20
Disc 2
Aram Chatschaturjan (1903–1978)
Maskerade Suite
Spartacus Suite
Zagreb Philharmonic
Dmitrij Kitajenko, Conductor
This recording brings together unique orchestral suites by the
Soviet composer Sergei Prokofiev and the Soviet-Armenian
composer Aram Khachaturian.
Summer Night Suite is based on the music from Prokofiev’s
opera Betrothal in a Monastery and Scythian Suite was derived
from his ballet Ala and Lolly.
Aram Khachaturian wrote his Masquerade Suite in 1941 to
accompany Mikhail Lermontov’s play of the same name. His
ballet Spartacus (1954) portrays the defeat the Romans by the
hero Spartacus who leads an uprising of slaves.
The suites present a range of moods and variety of melodic
invention that are completely engaging.
This is the Zagreb Philharmonic’s third recording for the
OehmsClassics label. Their recording of Glazunov’s
The Seasons, also under the direction of Dmitrij Kitajenko,
received an ICMA nomination.