Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra & James Gaffigan - Sergei Prokofiev: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 (2015)

This pair of Prokofiev symphonies, both of them repurposed from earlier dramatic works, is seldom played, although the composer himself thought highly of both. The youngish American conductor James Gaffigan has been programming them with various orchestras, and commits them to bytes here with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, of which he is guest conductor. He makes a good case for both works, especially the Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 44, from 1928. Gaffigan has called this music "pure evil," but it's evil of a fun kind, musically mapped ingeniously onto sonata form from sources in an unfinished opera called The Fiery Angel. Gaffigan gets the dramatic quality of the work, right from its shrieking opening chord. The Symphony No. 4 in C major, Op. 47, dates from just a year later and is linked to a ballet, L'enfant prodigue. It reflects that origin in its multi-sectional form and in a melodic language that looks forward to Prokofiev's later, more popular style. Gaffigan and the Netherlanders shift gears effectively, and there are a lot of good tunes for confirmed Prokofiev fans to discover here. Well recorded by Challenge Classics at a Hilversum studio, this is a good addition to a Prokofiev shelf.