Prokofiev did not compose his Visions fugitives – 20 “fleeting visions” – in one go, but in clusters between 1915 and 1917, immediately before the Russian Revolution that compelled him to leave his native country in 1918.

We know from his diaries that at least some of them owe their existence to extra-musical impulses. Thus several pieces were inspired by people close to him. Others impart his emotional reaction to the political situation with its menacing brutality. According to his own stat...