This release explores Prokofiev’s later, expanded vision of his Fourth Symphony, a work reborn from the ballet The Prodigal Son into a large-scale, independent score. The music’s origins in the theatre remain palpable in its clear profiles and sharply etched moods, yet the symphonic argument is now broader and more intricate, with forms that are present but deliberately veiled. The opening movement sets a serene, almost luminous calm against sudden eruptions of hard-edged, “eroico” energy, as if two incompatible worlds were colliding without true reconciliation. In the central movements, Prokofiev’s gentler voice comes to the fore: long, crystalline melodies sing high above delicate textures, touching on innocence, nostalgia, and a slightly childlike tenderness. The finale, with its Haydnesque wit and driving momentum, recalls the spirit of the “Classical” Symphony while harnessing a far richer orchestral palette. Under a taut yet flexible direction, the orchestra’s clarity, color, and rhythmic precision illuminate the score’s abundance of ideas, captured in sound that lets its lyricism and vitality speak with unusual immediacy.