HORENSTEIN conducts Prokofiev

Jascha Horenstein had a way with Prokofiev that deserves to be heard, and here we present the four recordings he made in Paris in 1954 in superb new XR remasters. Horenstein's take on the "Classical" Symphony No. 1 was reviewed at the time thus: "the performance is startlingly good, with point and style out of the ordinary; and in particular a care for balance that allows some rarely heard points of importance for once to pull their weight", whilst his take on the Fifth Symphony with the Concerts Colonne Orchestra was heralded as "an outstanding performance".

Also recorded at the time were two suites - Horenstein's take on the famous suite from Lieutenant Kijé was paired with the first ever recording of the suite from The Buffoon, or in the French, "Chout". As Fanfare wrote almost half a century later: "It's no surprise, of course, that the modernist side of his interpretive personality takes over in the brash reading of Chout (there's not much point in taking up the score if you're going to smooth off the rough edges)" - it's all excellent stuff!