PROKOFIEV Lieutenant Kijé Suite / Scythian Suite (Dolby Atmos) / / Claudio Abbado, Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Sergei Prokofiev completed the Scythian Suite op. 20 in 1914, when he was about to turn his back on his homeland. The Symphonic Suite op. 60 was composed almost two decades later, after Prokofiev had returned to Russia in 1933. The biographical turning points at which the two suites stand also represent ideological turning points in Prokofiev’s conception of art. While the earlier work is characterised by a tendency towards chromatic melody, the later work is dominated by diatonicism and incorporates archaic scales. Another interesting feature: the two music tracks have been remastered and edited from the original 1 inch 8-track tapes for the first time for this release.