Classical Music

This first ever digital recording of Prokofiev's music for the ballet 'The Stone Flower' is released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the composer's death. the story is an amalgamation of several of the folk-style tales in a book by the ural writer Paval Bazhov, cast in a Prologue, four acts and eight scenes which range from village and fairground to mountain caverns. 'The Tale of the Stone Flower' is Prokofiev's last ballet, and he never lived to see it performed. This is Chandos' first recording with Gianandrea Noseda, the new Principal Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic. His work with the orchestra has been greeted with tremendous enthusiasm. Recorded in: New Broadcasting House, Manchester 21, 22, 24 & 28 January 2003 Producer(s) Brian Pidgeon (Executive) Mike George (Recording) Sound Engineer(s) Stephen Rinker Denise Else (Assistant) Nick Bell (Assistant)

Classical Music

High Performance Review wrote of this recording at its original release, 'Prokofiev's ballet score [The Buffoon] was written for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, but it's doubtful that any ballet company ever has danced to such vivid, raucous playing as Järvi inspires in this concert suite. Chandos has blessed the Scottish National Orchestra with bright, airy, near demonstration quality sounds, and Järvi provides an enthusiastic reading that sparkles with an abundance of characterful wit and dances with good humour'. The music from The Buffoon is complemented here by two further colourful suites, that from the opera The Love for Three Oranges and the lesser-known, late Waltz Suite, which brings together music from the opera War and Peace, the ballet Cinderella and the film Lermontov. 'Järvi and his orchestra produce brilliantly exciting performances, which are stunningly recorded', wrote Australian Hi-Fi and Music Review.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

A splendidly characterful Kijé matched with some fine lesser-known works

As we reach the centenary year, Neeme Jarvi continues the Prokofievian odyssey on which he embarked in the mid-1980s with one of this master's most popular works, the Suite from Lieutenant Kije and one of his least known, the ballet The Tale of the Stone Flower. I enjoyed Lieutenant Kije in Jarvi's hands more than I have for a long time: he has the measure of its sense of fantasy and magic, as well as its festive spirit. His is a splendidly characterful performance which has the benefit of an excellent Chandos recording.

The Andante, Op. 50bis is a transcription for full strings of the middle movement of the First String Quartet (1930): the only previous recording I can recall was Rozhdestvensky's 1963 account (HMV Melodiya—nla). As its opus number implies, Autumnal sketch is an early work, dating from 1910, only a year after the First Piano Sonata, though Prokofiev subsequently revised it twice, in 1914 and 1934. Not surprisingly it finds his musical language not fully formed, though his imagination is rich. The shades of Rachmaninov hover and Prokofiev himself confessed that its inspiration could be traced to certain Rachmaninov works, namely The isle of the dead and the Second Symphony. It is scored for small orchestra (double woodwind plus bass clarinet, trumpet, four horns, harp and strings) and makes resourceful use of these forces. I have to say that I found this performance just a little less atmospheric than Rozhdestvensky's 1971 account (HMV—nla) and felt that it could have benefited from a slightly more leisurely tempo.

I saw The Tale of the Stone Flower, the last of Prokofiev's full-scale ballets, in Paris in the 1960s and thought its inspiration neither as fresh nor as seemingly inexhaustible as Cinderella or Romeo and Juliet. It is infrequently performed though it was running to packed houses in Moscow last autumn. Rozhdestvensky's complete 1975 recording of the score (HMV—nla) dispelled the impression that this was just Prokofiev on automatic pilot. The present suite, one of three Prokofiev fashioned from the work, contains some attractive and characteristic ideas (as in the Dance of the fiancee's girl-friends and the Scene and waltz of the diamonds), which improve on repetition, and left me wishing that Chandos had persuaded Neeme Jarvi to record a more generous selection, or even the whole ballet! Not top-drawer Prokofiev perhaps but well worth having all the same.

-- Robert Layton, Gramophone, reviewing original release Chandos 8806 [2/1991]

Another excellent budget reissue … very desirable.

Here is yet another excellent budget reissue of various works that originally acted as fillers for the Järvi/Prokofiev symphony cycle of the 1980s. That cycle was – and is – very highly regarded (see review), as were other series devoted to Strauss and Shostakovich, so it’s no surprise that this disc is very desirable at budget price.

The most famous item on here is, of course, the suite from Lieutenant Kije, and that is the work that has the severest competition. I grew up on the famous Szell/ Cleveland LP, and remember marvelling at the orchestral precision and flamboyant rhythmic bite of the whole thing. Having not heard it for many years, I can’t honestly say how the RSNO stack up against the Clevelanders, but this is hugely enjoyable on its own terms. Järvi’s approach is not dissimilar to Szell’s; he keeps a tight rein on proceedings but lets the orchestra unleash its full force where required, as at the start of the famous Troika, which then goes at quite a lick. There’s bags of detailed wind and brass playing throughout – that lovely doleful solo cornet at the start – and a sense of fun mingles with the grip Järvi obviously has on the score.

The suite from the ballet The Stone Flower is, I suspect, much less well known. In fact, I seem to remember Järvi’s recording as being instrumental in bringing the music to a wider public. It’s mature Prokofiev and, as in many other instances, he created the suites (three of them in the end) because of the shelving of plans to mount the full ballet. This is the first suite, entitled The Wedding Suite – the others were Gypsy Fantasy and Urals Rhapsody – though conductor Jarvi has added other bits from the original to make up a substantial half-hour chunk. Even by this composer’s enviable standard, it’s rife with memorable melodic invention, with glorious soaring melodies – just sample The Amorous Dance (tr.10) to hear what I mean. It’s full of Prokofiev’s best thumbprints – melodic, rhythmic, timbral, instrumental – and is a delight to get to know. I don’t have a comparison to hand – in fact, there aren’t a great deal – but Järvi and his RSNO really lift their game and play with passion, commitment and real flair.

The three short items are also well worth having. Both Dreams and Autumnal are extremely early compositions from his conservatory days, and it’s easy to hear Debussy, Scriabin and Rachmaninov in the mix, but there are just those odd glimmers of the mature composer to come. Try them out on your musical friends and see who they come up with. The Andante is a transcription for full strings of the slow movement of the First String Quartet, and it could be argued that it benefits from the fuller textures, especially in the rich and expansive treatment from Järvi and his disciplined RSNO strings.

The sound is in the best tradition of the house and still provides demonstration listening on good quality equipment. With excellent notes by Noel Goodwin, this is very easy to favour.

Tony Haywood, MusicWeb International

Classical Music

Recorded in: Henry Wood Hall, Glasgow 1 April 1985 & 1 May 1985 Producer(s) Brian Couzens Sound Engineer(s) Ralph Couzens Philip Couzens [Assistant]

This two-CD set offers all the works that Prokofiev wrote for the violin as solo instrument. One of the most sought-after and acclaimed virtuoso violinists today, James Ehnes is accompanied by the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Gianandrea Noseda and by the pianist Andrew Armstrong, with whom he has previously made a number of highly acclaimed Chandos recordings. The distinguished Amy Schwartz Moretti joins him in the Sonata for Two Violins.- Chandos

Reviews

Orchestral Choice "... James Ehnes’s particular combination of matchless virtuosity, sweet tone, flowing tempi and interpretative restraint suits all this music down to the ground... the contribution of the BBC Philharmonic is distinguished throughout ... Strongly recommended." David Gutman - Gramophone magazine - October 2013

“Wow. Everything works here. James Ehnes rarely disappoints, and the playing on this beautifully recorded two-disc set is immaculate. It’s not just the musicality, the remarkable ability to give shape and colour to the thorniest solo writing, but his modesty – he’s a player who knows exactly when to step back and let collaborators take the spotlight… Unmissable.” Graham Rickson – theartsdesk.com – 28 September 2013

"... Ehnes and his pianist give performances worthy of the giants (Oistrakh and Richter) for whom their parts were conceived." Hugh Canning - The Sunday Times - 8 September 2013

Classical CD of the Week "... Ehnes is joined by Amy Schwartz Moretti for an electrifying performance of the duo sonata... In their mix of lyricism and sharpe-edged rhythmic and harmonic piquancy. Ehnes and Moretti are absolutely spot on in defining the music’s character. This is playing that truly grabs you by the scruff of the neck and commands attention... For the two concertos Ehnes teams up again with an orchestra and conductor he knows well - the BBC Philharmonic and Gianandrea Noseda - who yield apt, complimentary shades of colouring, both brilliant and pungent, to match Ehnes’s superb artistry." ***** Geoffrey Norris - The Daily Telegraph - 28 September 2013

"... the sound is terrific, and given the excellence of the performance throughout, and the convenience of having all of these works ’under one roof’. as it were, there’s no reason to put off acquiring this set..." Raymond S Tuttle - International Record Review - October 2013

"... Prokofiev wrote tuneful music, rich and rhythmic, and James Ehnes is outstanding in bringing this attractive music to life." Peter Spaull - Liverpool Post - 19 September 2013

Classical Music

This desirable re-release is from Neeme Järvi’s highly praised Prokofiev cycle recorded by Chandos in the 1980s. The symphonies from this series were all excellent, and the miscellaneous orchestral items that acted as fillers were also of high quality.

The first thing to strike one is the typical in-house sound that was a hallmark of Chandos from this period, and indeed still is in some venues. It doesn’t suit everyone, but the mixture of a lively, resonant acoustic with a rather bright, front-end balance does, I think, work well in this type of music. I did tame the treble a tad, but the climactic passages are really tremendous, viscerally exciting but with bags of detail.

The same thing could be said of the readings. Järvi tended in this series towards fast tempos, and for the most part this approach pays off. The Scythian Suite has a nervous edge that is thrilling. In places I miss the sheer weight of tone and savage splendour of Gergiev’s Kirov account on Philips, especially in the second movement, the famous ‘Enemy God and Dance of the Black Spirits’ , but he pays more attention to the tender moments than Gergiev, as in the lovely wind passages of movement 3, entitled ‘Night’ – around one minute in. All told, it’s a very convincing reading, with the Scottish National playing their socks off and only losing out to more famous rivals in exposed high string passages.

The ‘Steel Dance’ of 1927 is a bit of a rarity and well worth having. As with Scythian Suite, this was also originally a Diaghilev ballet commission that ended up as a concert suite, and being subtitled ‘A Ballet of Construction’, one can pretty well guess that it suited Prokofiev’s style from this period. The depiction of factory life and the mechanised age is brilliantly brought to life in orchestral language that balances brutality and atmosphere with consummate skill. Yes, there is an air of pompous propaganda in places, but it’s impossible not to be swept along by the rhythmic vitality and wit of it all, especially in Järvi’s finely gauged and superbly played account.

Alexander Nevsky is the main work here, and the one with most serious rivals. It’s a good rendition, very well played and sung with an edge of rawness from the chorus that is quite fitting. Linda Finnie’s contribution is first rate, and my only concern is that when set alongside the very finest accounts, of which my own favourite is Previn with LSO forces and Anna Reynolds on an EMI twofer, the last degree of excitement is missing. Others may disagree, and I have to admit to being swept away by Järvi’s spectacular rendition of Battle on the Ice, but then this works in just about every version I’ve heard. The Chandos recording really does help here, with a bite and vividness that is thrilling. There is definitely a bitter chill to Järvi’s Russian winter here, and anyone buying this disc is very unlikely to be disappointed. Indeed, with such intelligent couplings, a budget price tag and with well over 70 minutes, it stands out even in a crowded field.

-- Tony Haywood, MusicWeb International

For me the main attraction in this fascinating batch of discs is the magnificent Cantata for the Twentieth Anniversary of the October Revolution. It is here presented in its unbowdlerised version including Stalin's speeches towards the end. Kondrashin was forced to elide them in his first recording. However let's not confuse politics with musical worth troubling though the process of separating one from the other in a cantata of this type may be. The forces used are massive and they are used to huge effect. Loudness and awe are not of course enough. In fact this music has a dizzying concentration that is bound to impress and some poetry too.

The performance history of the piece is fascinating. Completed in 1937, it was buried by the denunciations of that era until 1966 when it was performed and then recorded -against the conductor's wishes - minus two crucial substantial episodes which set words by Stalin. This Chandos recording which is complete, faithful to the original schema as to instrumentation and has all sections as written was performed in this form for the first time anywhere outside Eastern Europe by Järvi at the RFH in 1992.

The choir is large and subdivided into two section - eight parts. There is a super-augmented orchestra with quadruple woodwind and eight horns alongside three augmentary instrumental groups: six accordions or bayans, a seventeen strong windband including six further trumpets to add to the four already in the orchestra and a percussion ensemble with alarm bells, cannon-shot, sirens (9:22 in Revolution tr. 6) and the kitchen sink. In the wild fervent rumpus that is Revolution the voice of Gennadi Rozhdestvensky rings out through a megaphone orating the words of Lenin. One can somehow see the smoke of insurrection, feel its sting, the howls of heightened awareness and hysteria and the bloody fervour of the words. This is the same movement in which the Bayan band appear. The bayans return for The Oath: Stalin's pledge in his speech at Lenin's bierside. It too burns with conviction - faithful to the original sentiments of the extension of the Communist International into a spreading worldwide alliance. It is greatly to the credit of the Philharmonia chorus and Simon Halsey that the flame burns bright, steady and intense. The final and tenth movement, The Constitution, again sets Stalin's words

There are no soloists except for Rozhdestvensky and his spoken cameo - the voice of the people speaking the words of their hortators into the dazzling sun. Overdose on grandiloquence and blazing fervour. In case you think this is all unremitting grandstanding the quietly intimate silvery sheen of the strings in Victory shines forth.

The notes are by Christopher Palmer and all the words are there in the booklet: transliterated Russian alongside French, German and English translations.

When this disc was first released in 1992 while not impossible to track down full recordings of Prokofiev's third Soviet ballet The Tale of the Stone Flower were difficult to come by. CPO and Chandos have put that right in style since. Even so there is a place for this twenty-five minute sequence from Prokofiev's full-length ballet: whooping brass, gypsy flavour, echoes of Romeo and Juliet (how could he escape it), dark clouded tension, shrieking tangy woodwind, the swayingly touching solo of the gypsy girl (tr.17) and stamping, crashing fury.

-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

Prokofiev: Eugen Onegin & Yevipetskiye nochi Suite