Ančerl's
Prokofiev is grainy. He clearly prizes
the abrasion and the tartness of the
music. There is no evidence of a temptation
to over-romanticise. His Classical
is very much ‘on the wing’, raw-toned
(a quality accentuated by the 1956 recording)
and rebelliously alive with characterful
woodwind contributions. The Larghetto
is pretty four-square while the outer
movements, both timed at 3.48, are taken
at perilous speed with which the Czech
Phil keep up showing joyous unanimity
and astounding intonation. I wonder
if Ančerl
had been influenced by the fiery Golovanov.
The sound is a mite fierce so this disc
could not be a first recommendation.
I remember a nice version of this symphony
from Abbado on DG. From the same era
Nikolai Malko's Classical
is exceptional and allows a little
more breathing space for the music not
to mention its glorious coupling: the
Prokofiev Seventh Symphony.
Of the five Prokofiev
piano concertos we are here offered
the first two. The First is played
by Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997). It
is given a sweetly accented as well
as adrenaline-pumping performance in
which Ančerl
is happy to collaborate. Listen to the
lento at 6.35 onwards
in this single movement work showing
bravura in its eddying ascending drive
(a little like the Foulds' Dynamic
Triptych) and in its imaginative
unpredictability. The Second is
played by Dagmar Baloghová (b.1929).
She handles well the pregnant tension
and fey waywardness of the first movement
and is just as impressive in the little
Vivace. The Intermezzo
is macabre and fantastic with some of
the iron witchery of the First Violin
Concerto. This music becomes increasingly
modernistic with more than a predictive
touch of Bartók in the air. It
is somehow a surprise to find that both
concertos predate the Classical Symphony.
Rob Barnett