Ravel Ma mère l'Oye: Suite        
Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1
Prokofiev Symphony No. 4

 

Prokofiev’s Symphony No.4 is an expansion on music from his ballet on the parable of the Prodigal Son. Full of the conflict between youthful passion and the inherent longing for home, there’s an element of musical self-portraiture, Prokofiev himself having left his homeland of Russia and not returning for some two decades.

From parables to fairy tales in Ravel’s gorgeous orchestral suite, full of colour and wonderment. In between the two, virtuoso German cellist Alban Gerhardt illuminates Saint-Saëns’ weightlessly graceful concerto.