Prokofiev: Ballet suites

• In his ballets the great Soviet composer Sergei Prokofiev continues
  the long and famous tradition of Russian ballet music, which
  culminated in the immortal ballets of Tchaikovsky (Nutcracker,
  Swan Lake).
• Prokofiev’s genius for characterisation produced such classical
  “hits” as the Montagues & Capulets (often used in films, commercial
  and even sporting events!), and the Love Scene of Romeo and Juliet.
  Also the Cinderella-Waltz from the Cinderella Suite became an
  evergreen.
• The ballet Stone Flower is the last Soviet ballet Prokofiev wrote,
  and although it is little known, it contains music of great beauty
  and power on an equal level as the famous ballets.
• Splendid performances by the Novosibirsk Symphony Orchestra,
  conducted by maestro Arnold Katz.

Track listing:

• Cinderella-Suite No.1 Op.107
• The Stone Flower-Wedding Suite No.1 Op.126
• Romeo and Juliet-Suite No.2 Op.64ter

Prokofiev’s great ballet scores for Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella have become firm
favourites in both the concert hall and the repertory of ballet companies worldwide –
‘The Montagues and Capulets’ from Romeo and Juliet, for example, features regularly at
major sporting events, something Prokofiev probably never envisaged!
The earliest of the ballets featured here is Romeo and Juliet, commissioned in the
mid-1930s, soon after Prokofiev returned to the USSR from self-imposed exile.
Drawn from the main events of the ballet, the music of Suite No.2 ranges from the
grand, formal music of the ball and sounds of a popular holiday to the tragedy and despair
of the story’s end, illuminating Prokofiev’s commitment to communicating the depths
and intricacies of Shakespeare’s play. Cinderella followed Romeo and Juliet in the
1940s, with a score of rich and sophisticated music that rewards audiences of adults and
children alike.The Suite No.1 features some of the ballet’s best-loved music, including
‘Cinderella’s Waltz’ and the brilliant Mazurka. The Stone Flower was the last of
Prokofiev’s Soviet ballets, dating from 1948, and is based on a folk tale from the Urals.
Although it will perhaps be the least familiar of the works on this disc, its score contains
music of great beauty, with soaring tunes that are as memorable as anything in the
two ballet scores that preceded it.