Though no more than a stopgap in the catalog,
Neeme Järvi's 1990 coupling of
Prokofiev's Symphonic Suite from his opera Semyon Kotko and Four Portraits and Dénoument from his opera The Gambler with the Scottish National Orchestra will be a necessary disc for any diehard
Prokofiev collector. True,
Järvi's accounts of both works are no more than functional. In the late Semyon Kotko music,
Järvi emphasizes the work's obvious monumental qualities while neglecting its more intimate and moving lyrical qualities. In the middle period Gamblers music,
Järvi stresses the work's garish colors and bludgeoning rhythms and ignores the work's warmth and humanity, thereby rendering the Four Portraits far less interesting and the Dénoument far less convincing. As they always did for the conductor, the Scottish musicians give
Järvi what he wants in the form of bold but not particularly tight performances and Chandos gives him high voltage, but neither deep nor detailed sound. Nevertheless, dedicated fans of the Soviet composer will still seek out this disc since it offers the only digital recording of the Four Portraits and one of only two digital recordings of Semyon Kotko.