Composer: Sergei Prokofiev
Performer: Alexei Volodin, Sergei Babyan
Orchestra: Mariinsky Orchestra
Conductor: Valery Gergiev
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Mariinsky
Release: 2016
Size: 1.51 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
Piano Concerto No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 53
01. I. Vivace
02. II. Andante
03. III. Moderato
04. IV. Vivace
Piano Concerto No. 5 in G major, Op. 55
05. I. Allegro con brio
06. II. Moderato ben accentuato
07. III. Toccata: Allegro con fuoco
08. IV. Larghetto
09. V. Vivo
Symphony No. 4 in C major, Op. 112 (revised version)
10. I. Andante – Allegro eroico
11. II. Andante tranquillo
12. III. Moderato, quasi allegretto
13. IV. Allegro risoluto
CD 02
Symphony No. 6 in E flat minor, Op. 111
01. I. Allegro moderato
02. II. Largo
03. III. Vivace
Symphony No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 131
04. I. Moderato
05. II. Allegretto
06. III. Andante espressivo
IV. Vivace
This major release launches the Mariinsky label’s projects to honour the 125th anniversary of Prokofiev’s birth. A long-time champion of the music of Prokofiev, Valery Gergiev conducts Symphonies Nos 4, 6 & 7, coupled with Piano Concertos Nos 4 and 5. The result is a 2-SACD set programmed to showcase some of Prokofiev’s finest works written before and after the Second World War.
Prokofiev began his 4th Symphony in 1929, drawing from the musical material of his ballet ‘The Prodigal Son’. The Symphony was premiered the following year, though he substantially revised the work 17 years later. Symphony No. 6 was written in 1947 as an elegy to the tragedies of World War II. Speaking of the Symphony, Prokofiev said, “Now we are rejoicing in our great victory, but each of us has wounds which cannot be healed. One man’s loved ones have perished, another has lost his health. This must not be forgotten.”
The 7th Symphony was completed in 1952, a year before the composer’s death. It was well-received and was awarded the prestigious Lenin Prize in 1957 at Miami’s Knight Concert Hall. Acclaimed for his highly sensitive touch and technical brilliance, Alexei Volodin performs Prokofiev Piano Concerto No 4. Premiered in Berlin in 1956, by the West Berlin RSO, it was written for the one-armed pianist Paul Wittgenstein, and was the only one of Prokofiev’s piano works that was not performed during his lifetime. Alexei Volodin’s performance was described as “superbly controlled and beautifully subtle” by The Guardian. The American-Armenian musician Sergei Babyan performs Prokofiev’s last complete piano concerto, No 5. The Telegraph reviewer was sufficiently moved to say: “Never have I seen so many fast and furious hand-crossings, so many dizzying flights from top to bottom of the keyboard, all performed flawlessly”.