Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 / Scythian Suite, Op. 20

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SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 / Scythian Suite, Op. 20
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton

[ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD ]

Release Date: Monday 30 March 2015

This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.

Following on a highly regarded recording of Sergei Prokofiev's Sixth Symphony, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Litton here present their take on the composer's Symphony No.5 in B flat minor. Written in 1944, at a time when the Soviet victory over the retreating Germans was only a few months away, the symphony was intended as a patriotic work, heroic and ultimately optimistic - the composer later described his aims as follows: 'I thought of it as a work glorifying the human spirit.' The history of music offers many instances where such extra-musical concerns have resulted in bombast, empty rhetoric and noisy banality. But with his Fifth, Prokofiev achieved something that he had long been aiming for: a big work of wide appeal that at the same time fulfilled the most demanding expectations of form and structure. The immediate success in Russia was soon followed by performances abroad, and as a result Prokofiev joined the ranks of the great symphonists of the 20th century, after having been previously known mainly for his music for the piano and for the stage. The closing work on this disc - the Scythian Suite - may to some extent be regarded as belonging to the latter category. It originated in 1915 as Ala and Lolli, a ballet score for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes based on a synopsis set among the Scythians, an ancient people of the steppes of Southern Russia. At the time Prokofiev composed the score, very little was actually known about this people, and in pre-revolutionary Russia 'Scythian' had become a byword for primitive savagery. Prokofiev's music, with its wild dissonances and delight in sheer noise, amply fulfilled any matching expectations, but when Diaghilev heard it in a piano version he was less than enthusiastic, and the plans for a ballet were cancelled. Prokofiev was never prepared to waste good music, however, and out of the ballet score he extracted the colourful four-movement Scythian Suite for concert performance.

"it's a winner. The Scythian Suite is as splashy, virtuosic, and exciting as recordings get, but the performance is not all fireworks. With crystal clarity, we hear every section (practically every instrument) held in flawless balance. When the French horns launch their high trills in the third movement, or when the woodwinds and strings scurry in frantic unison in the finale, or when the bass drum rumbles: you hear it all. The amount of detail here adds an extra dimension to the excitement. All those qualities - the glorious sound, the superb playing, the clarity with which everything is presented - apply to Symphony No. 5, too. I don't think I've heard a performance where it's easier to follow along with the flute or bassoon through the loudest episodes of the first movement. All in all, another victory for great BIS engineering and their mastery of orchestral balance, another testimony to the superb quality of the Bergen Philharmonic and another piece of evidence that Andrew Litton is one of the most underrated conductors alive. I enjoyed this very much and suspect you will too. Here's to more recordings of the Prokofiev symphonies and piano concertos from these performers, coming soon." Recording of the Month MusicWeb May 2015

"BIS has given him fantastic surround sound in a recording of extreme clarity and warmth. A terrific issue, knocking off any number of so-called "great" recordings that preceded it." (AudAud.com)

Tracks:

Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No.5 in B flat minor, Op.100
Scythian Suite (Ala et Lolly), Op.20