Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky; Khachaturian: Violin Concerto. Fritz Reiner, Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Leonid Kogan, violin; Pierre Monteux, Boston Symphony Orchestra. RCA 09026-63708-2.(Review)

Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky; Khachaturian: Violin Concerto. Fritz Reiner, Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Leonid Kogan, violin; Pierre Monteux, Boston Symphony Orchestra. RCA 09026-63708-2.

Sergei Prokofiev wrote his cantata "Alexander Nevsky" for the soundtrack of Sergei Eisenstein's 1938 motion picture of the same name. The film epic and the music commemorate the Russian repelling of a German invasion in the thirteenth century. Prince Alexander Nevsky is said to have gathered an enormous army and met the enemy on the frozen Lake Chud, where he dealt the Knights of the Teutonic Order a huge defeat. Today, the film is much admired, but I daresay the film's score is even more well known.

The great filmmaker Eisenstein said of Prokofiev that he " ... makes it possible for the screen to reveal not only the appearance and subjects of objects, but also, and particularly, their special inner structure ... and forces the whole inflexible structure to blossom into the emotional fullness of orchestration." The movement titles say it all the better: "Russia Under the Mongolian Yoke," "Song About Alexander Nevsky," "The Crusaders in Pskov," "Arise, Ye Russian People," "The Battle on the Ice," "Field of the Dead," and "Alexander's Entry Into Pskov."

The 1959 recording by Fritz Reiner and his Chicago Symphony does full ...