Dmitri Kitayenko directed various orchestras in Moscow before becoming chief conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic in 1976 and subsequently conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Hessischer Rundfunk in Frankfurt am Main, from 1990 to 1996. He went on to hold principal positions with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bern Symphony Orchestra, the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Seoul and finally, in addition to his worldwide activities as a guest conductor, was appointed honorary conductor of the Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne.

This compilation brings together popular orchestral works and ballet music by Tchaikovsky. Dmitrij Kitajenko and the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, of which he has been Honorary Conductor since 2009, have recorded the complete symphonies by Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. These recordings have been awarded with numerous international prizes and are considered important reference recordings. Their recording of Tchaikovsky’s opera Iolanta in 2015 (with Olesya Golovneva, Alexander Vinogradov and Andrei Bondarenko in the lead roles) caused a sensation, and it received the "Opera of the Year" Award of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA).

This recording brings together unique orchestral suites by the Soviet composer Sergei Prokofiev and the Soviet-Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian. Summer Night Suite is based on the music from Prokofievs opera Betrothal in a Monastery and Scythian Suite was derived from his ballet Ala and Lolly. Aram Khachaturian wrote his Masquerade Suite in 1941 to accompany Mikhail Lermontovs play of the same name. His ballet Spartacus (1954) portrays the defeat the Romans by the hero Spartacus who leads an uprising of slaves. The suites present a range of moods and variety of melodic invention that are completely engaging. This is the Zagreb Philharmonics third recording for the OehmsClassics label. Their recording of Glazunovs The Seasons, also under the direction of Dmitrij Kitajenko, received an ICMA nomination.