As a composer Sergei Prokofiev was so versatile that audiences never quite knew what to expect. As a strategy, this could misfire but with his first symphony he got things just right. He once described what he had wanted to achieve: ‘If Haydn had lived into this era he would have kept his own style while absorbing things from what was new in music. That’s the kind of symphony I wanted to write...’ The ‘Classical’ symphony has been a true classic since its first performance in 1918 and is one of the few genuinely witty pieces in the twentieth-century orchestral repertory. A few months after the performance, Prokofiev left Russia for the USA where he remained for some years before settling in Paris in 1923. It was here that he composed the Second Symphony, now with the aim to be as up-to-date as possible. The first audience in 1925 was more bewildered than enthusiastic, however, and Prokofiev himself came to have doubts, wondering whether in this symphony ‘made out of iron and steel’ he’d overdone the rough counterpoint and density of texture. He now returned to a project he had been working on for several years – the opera The Fiery Angel. In 1928, when he began to think that no opera house would take it up, Prokofiev decided to reuse the music and found that ‘the material unexpectedly packed itself up into a four-movement symphony’ – his Third, characterized by an overwhelming sense of anxiety and tension. The present disc is the fourth and last in a symphony cycle which has earned the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Litton critical acclaim worldwide.



REVIEW:

This disc represents one heck of a deal–86 minutes of first-class Prokofiev courtesy of BIS, Andrew Litton and the Bergen Philharmonic. The “Classical” Symphony receives a performance in which nothing–and I mean NOTHING–gets taken for granted. Litton adopts a leisurely tempo for the opening movement, allowing sufficient time for each delectable instrumental detail to register. The entire performance sounds like chamber music writ large. At this stage in his career, Litton’s conducting has become more heavily inflected, sometimes to the point of mannerism. You can hear this approach most clearly in the Gavotte, but never (in this case) to the point of excess–and the finale is probably the most pointed and characterful version currently available. If you think you know this music cold, think again. You’ve got to hear this.

The Second and Third Symphonies both belong to Prokofiev’s “gnarly” phase, but I think they’re much better than their reputation leads us to believe. At least in these performances, Litton uncovers a world of color and nuance, never mind an abundance of melody sometimes concealed beneath and within the music’s hard-edged exterior. The Second Symphony’s concluding variation movement, for example, contains an entire population of captivating vignettes, and each one springs vividly to life. Similarly, Litton and the Bergen players beautifully declog the dense textures in the Third Symphony’s outer movements while still leaving the music plenty of room to shock. This work, in particular, has been very lucky on disc in the digital era, with superb versions from Järvi, Chailly, and above all, Muti; but this newcomer certainly belongs in their company.

In sum these performances, engineered with warmth, clarity and impact, rank with best best; and having all three symphonies on a single disc makes this release something of a bargain as well–even at full price.

– ClassicsToday.com (10/10; David Hurwitz)

Sergey Prokofiev’s seven symphonies are acknowledged as one of the major cycles of the 20th century, and these recordings with Marin Alsop and the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra have received widespread critical acclaim. From the crisp vitality of the youthful ‘Classical’ Symphony to the viscerally exciting Third, the Fifth Symphony which for Prokofiev represented ‘the grandeur of the human spirit’ and the deeply moving and heartfelt Sixth Symphony, this is an unforgettable collection crowned by the bittersweet Seventh Symphony, the composer’s final significant work.

Past praise of previously released volumes included in this set:

Prokofiev: Symphonies No 1 "Classical" & 2 / Alsop

Without minimizing the Second’s violent energy, Alsop plays the piece with a vivid sense of its long melodic lines. The first movement, in particular, has plenty of excitement but also a certain lyrical emphasis that gives the music something to be excited about. It’s very convincing.

As for the Classical Symphony, well, just about everyone does it well, and while I can imagine a first movement with a touch more snap to its rhythms, the performance picks up steam as it goes, culminating in a delightfully crisp account of the finale. The early tone poem “Dreams” drifts about prettily for ten minutes, sounding like Debussy or Scriabin or basically anyone but Prokofiev. Does it deserve greater exposure? Perhaps not, but this lovely performance makes as strong a case for it as you might imagine possible. Vivid sonics make this the best release in this series so far.

– David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Prokofiev: Symphony No. 7 & Other Orchestral Works / Alsop

Alsop captures the lyrical aspects of the Seventh work really well. She also has the advantage of a superior recording in the acoustically friendlier Sala São Paulo. The orchestra is superb throughout, but special mention should be made of the woodwinds that have notable solos in the work.

– MusicWeb International

The 37 short pieces by Prokofiev transcribed for violin and piano brought together here ought really to come with a health warning. So distinctive are the contours, angles and extensions of the Prokofiev tune, drawn from an apparently inexhaustible hoard, that even a short exposure to the memory circuits of the mind can result in permanent occupation. This album is full of them, creating a panoramic tour around five decades of an exceptionally rich, diverse but ultimately sadly truncated life. Violinist Yuri Kalnits has participated in festivals throughout the world and has played at some of the world’s most important venues. He is a dedicated chamber musician as well as concert soloist.

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet” has inspired generations of artists to adaptations like scarcely any other work. In his colorful, passionate music, the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev brilliantly captured the clash of love and hatred, and the proximity of tenderness and violence. Inspired by Prokofiev’s vivid music and the timeless quality of Shakespeare’s tragedy, choreographer Christian Spuck and the Ballet Zurich narrate the most famous love story in world literature using strong images that are full of enthralling theatricality and touching emotion. Michail Jurowski, a true Prokofiev expert, is at the rostrum of the Philharmonia Zurich.

Following an acclaimed debut recording of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake with the Philharmonia in 2020, Santtu-Matias Rouvali returns with a recording of Sergei Prokofiev’s iconic Symphony No. 5. Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 was first performed in 1944, 14 years after his previous symphony. Prokofiev described his Fifth Symphony as a “hymn to free and happy Man, to his mighty powers, his pure and noble spirit,” explaining that, “I cannot say that I deliberately chose this theme. It was born in me and clamoured for expression. The music matured within me. It filled my soul.”

From grand spectacles to poignant close-ups, experience Helgi Tomasson's bravura interpretation of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet like you've never seen it before. With passionate choreography, spine-tingling swordsmansip, and a celebrated score by Sergei Prokofiev, San Francisco Ballet's passionate retelling of the Bard's greatest tragedy has packed houses around the world. Romeo & Juliet is one of the Company's most popular and widely toured ballets and has been seen by more than 200,000 people since it premiered in 1994. Choreographed by Helgi Tomasson, with sets and costumes by Jens-Jacob Worsaae, this visually stunning production and the brilliant dancers of San Francisco Ballet bring this powerful and touching tragedy - and Renaissance-era Verona - vivdly to life. "Tomasson lifts Shakespeare's complex and familiar language off the gilded pages and translates it into lucid classical choreography that is visceral, fresh, and ultimately sublime" (Huffington Post).

Throughout his career, Sergei Prokofiev wrote a large number of works for the stage – some of them highly successful, others less so. Whichever the case, Prokofiev would rarely miss the opportunity of recycling the score in one way or another – staying more or less close to the original in an orchestral suite or using it as material for a completely new work, such as the Third and Fourth symphonies (based on the ballet The Prodigal Son and the opera The Fiery Angel, respectively.) The present release combines suites created from Prokofiev’s very first opera (The Gambler, 1915–17) and his very last ballet (The Stone Flower, 1948–53). Based on a short novel by Dostoyevsky, The Gambler doesn’t have separate numbers that can easily be detached. Instead Prokofiev created ‘portraits’ of the four main characters, by re-assembling the music associated with them throughout the opera. The plot of The Tale of the Stone Flower was based on a collection of folk and fairy tales from mining communities of the Ural Mountains, and Prokofiev composed a 150-minute score in an idiom relying on folk elements and nineteenth-century musical traditions. While waiting for official permission to have the ballet performed, he planned a number of orchestral suites. On this recording, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and their principal conductor Dima Slobodeniouk splice together two of these compilations: the Wedding Suite, Op.126 and the Gypsy Fantasy, Op.127, both of which were performed before the ballet itself, in 1951. The result is preceded by the opening of the actual ballet, entitled The Mistress of the Copper Mountain. These suites frame the brief Autumnal Sketch, one of the composer’s earliest acknowledged works for orchestra.

“Living people can dance, the dying cannot”, Prokofiev wrote to explain the problems he faced when writing music for the ballet Romeo and Juliet. His original score was rejected as ‘undanceable’ by the Bolshoy Theatre and his initial scheme for a happy ending for the lovers was, fortunately, vetoed. The revised score, however, proved a masterpiece of expressive beauty and drama, with melting love music and huge bravura, and it remains one of the most loved ballet scores of the twentieth century.

From grand spectacles to poignant close-ups, experience Helgi Tomasson's bravura interpretation of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet like you've never seen it before. With passionate choreography, spine-tingling swordsmansip, and a celebrated score by Sergei Prokofiev, San Francisco Ballet's passionate retelling of the Bard's greatest tragedy has packed houses around the world. Romeo & Juliet is one of the Company's most popular and widely toured ballets and has been seen by more than 200,000 people since it premiered in 1994. Choreographed by Helgi Tomasson, with sets and costumes by Jens-Jacob Worsaae, this visually stunning production and the brilliant dancers of San Francisco Ballet bring this powerful and touching tragedy - and Renaissance-era Verona - vivdly to life. "Tomasson lifts Shakespeare's complex and familiar language off the gilded pages and translates it into lucid classical choreography that is visceral, fresh, and ultimately sublime" (Huffington Post).

Sergei Prokofiev virtually grew up at the keyboard – he composed for the piano from early childhood, and the instrument was his workshop and laboratory. Well before the end of his student days he had absorbed the virtuoso techniques of Rachmaninov and Scriabin, and to these he added his own brilliant, sharp-edged virtuosity, marked by a keen contrast between dramatic, hard-driven passages and more intimate and gentle lyrical moments. His nine sonatas therefore hold a very special place in his output and represent his language at its most personal, free of any external dramatic, verbal or visual associations: they contain the essential Prokofiev. Freddy Kempf has previously recorded four of the sonatas to critical acclaim: ‘Kempf is joyfully exuberant, flashing through every savage challenge with the assurance and instinct of a born virtuoso’ (Gramophone). With this release, he adds another three sonatas to his discography, starting with Sonata No. 3 in A minor which Prokofiev premièred in Petrograd in April 1918. Three weeks later he left Russia and only returned in 1936, after seventeen years spent in the USA, Germany and France. Premièred in 1944, Sonata No. 8 is the third and last of the so-called ‘War Sonatas’ – possibly less virtuosic than its predecessors, it has a wide emotional range, with unexpected depths. His final, ninth sonata Prokofiev wrote for Sviatoslav Richter, saying: ‘Don’t think it’s intended to create an effect.’ Often almost improvisatory, it was the last work he completed before the infamous 1948 decrees that disciplined many Soviet composers, and the first performance did not take place until 1951.

Sergey Prokofiev’s final years were clouded by ill-health, and the Seventh Symphony was his last significant work, full of poignant nostalgia and restrained but deeply expressed emotion. The Love for Three Oranges consolidated Prokofiev’s reputation in the West in the 1920s, both this and the satirical tale of Lieutenant Kije producing two of his most popular suites. This is the final volume of the acclaimed cycle of Prokofiev’s Symphonies with the Sao Paolo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop.

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REVIEWS:

Alsop captures the lyrical aspects of the Seventh work really well. She also has the advantage of a superior recording in the acoustically friendlier Sala São Paulo. The orchestra is superb throughout, but special mention should be made of the woodwinds that have notable solos in the work.

– MusicWeb International

This is one of the most desirable Sevenths on disc. The Sao Paulo orchestra are in good shape, and continue with a display of their refined tonal quality through the remainder of the disc, the creamy double-bass solo at the opening of the Romance in the Kije Suite worthy of special mention. Commendable inner detail, but play the disc at a very high volume to bring it to life.

– David's Review Corner