Olga Borodina, Valery Gergiev - Prokofiev: Scythian Suite, Alexander Nevsky (2003)

Is Prokofiev's Scythian Suite a deliberate parody of Stravinsky's La sacra du printemps? On the basis of Valery Gergiev's recording of it, yes, it is. Gergiev's interpretation is comic and a big, brutal slapstick Stravinsky with bone-crushing percussion and brain-rattling brass, with squealing winds and skittering strings. Gergiev's rhythms in "The Enemy God" and the "Dance of the Black Spirits" have the subtlety of a pie in the face and his colors in "Night and in Procession of the Sun" have the nuance of a pratfall. Gergiev's interpretation is not only the funniest ever recorded, it is also the most accurate representation of the score and the best ever recorded. Is Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky one of the greatest populist works of the past century? On the basis of Gergiev's recording of it, yes, it is. Gergiev's interpretation is epic: the atmosphere of oppression in the opening movement is cosmic, the endless suffering of the Russian people is tragic, the character of Nevsky heroic, "The Battle on the Ice" cataclysmic, and "Alexander's Entry Into Pskov" ecstatic. Gergiev's Kirov Orchestra and Chorus of the Mariinsky Theatre perform like Old Believers and Olga Borodina is the voice of Mother Russia. Philips' sound is stupendous.