This Warner Classics disc does indeed contain Prokofiev’s ultimate hits: we have the Classical Symphony and then two suites from Romeo and Juliet in distinctive readings by the Strasbourg Symphony Orchestra under Aziz Shokhakimov. Tashkent has a legendary specialist music school that has produced international stars such as the pianist Behzod Abduraimov and Shokhakimov himself. The classic Russian repertoire is his bread and butter, but he manages to put his own stamp on it.

In the Classical, Shokhakimov clearly relishes the complexity of Prokofiev’s counterpoint and the vivid colours of his orchestration. In the outer movements, Shokhakimov goes all out for clarity, and chooses relaxed tempos for this purpose. This is an interesting reading but at a price, and listeners may miss the fleetness or even the sense of dizzying flight in other interpretations.

In the Romeo suites, once again, the inimitable colours of Prokofiev’s orchestration are in the foreground: one striking example is the wonderful Mercutio/Tybalt number (track 11). All the most characteristic features delight or thrill, and the sudden eruptions of massive sound are conveyed very effectively, whether in the Duke’s Command (track 12) or in the Balcony Scene (track 10). The oom-pah number that is simply entitled ‘Dance’ (track 15) has a wonderful pace to it, admittedly at the expense of the more grating dissonances, which are somewhat mitigated. Shokhakimov offers us a more sprightly ‘Friar Laurence’ than usual, and the theme in the high violins that follows avoids the excessive sweetness of some interpretations. Yet to my mind, the love-and-death music is slightly undercooked – it can be given an intensity and poignancy that is not heard here. Not everyone will agree, but Prokofiev’s music is not all thrills, wit and quirkiness; it can also plumb the depths and be quite heartbreaking.

As a Prokofiev aficionado, I must say that I found the booklet notes glib and imprecise, but aside from that incidental blemish, the album is highly enjoyable, with a fresh take on some of the greatest melodic gems of the 20th century.