Australia’s Limelight Magazine gives a 4.5 Star review to the Utah Symphony and Thierry Fischer’s Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky – Lieutenant Kijé Suite recording:

“what a witty juxtaposition: Russia’s great medieval nationalist epic contrasted with a cheeky satire on stultifying Tsarist military bureaucracy. … All the participants acquit themselves brilliantly. In the Kijé, the orchestra conveys just the right mixture of piquancy and subversion. The soloists are a delight, especially the fat tubas and the droll sounding saxophone: Prokofiev at his most delightfully sardonic! Alexander Nevsky ticks every box: the introduction and the opening to the most famous section – The Battle on the Ice – effectively convey the gripping tension and foreboding much better than Shostakovich’s depiction of a similar scene at the start of his Eleventh Symphony – and in a fraction of the time. The lead-up to the battle itself is excellently captured, (I think Prokofiev was the equal of Respighi or Rózsa in this) and the orchestra play with visceral intensity, without ever descending to coarseness. … The chorus combine that unique Russian sense of yearning with fervent patriotism, without, in turn, descending to a howling triumphalist Bolshevik mob. The mezzo-soprano, Alisa Kolosova, sounds appropriately soulful… Full marks to the excellent recording team too.”

—Greg Keane, Limelight

See the full review on limelightmagazine.com.au

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