Prokofiev (1891-1953) wrote some of the most thematically distinct music of any composer this century. Here we have two of his minor masterpieces. Alexander Nevsky (1938-39) is a cantata for mezzo-soprano, chorus and orchestra taken from the composer"s music to the Eisenstein film of the same name. It"s at once Russian, heroic and idiosyncratic. The Scythian Suite (1914) comes from a distillation of Prokofiev"s ballet Ala et Lolly which was commissioned by Diaghilev when he heard the composer"s Second Piano Concerto. Somewhat influenced by Stravinsky"s The Firebird, the suite goes out of its way not to sound like The Firebird. It works. --Paul Cook