Claudio Abbado - "Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kijé Suite / Scythian Suite" Original Source

Sergei Prokofiev completed his '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. These recordings have been remastered and edited from the original 1-inch 8-track tapes for the first time for this release.