Sergei PROKOFIEV (1891-1953)
Symphony No. 6, Op.
111 (1945/47) [37.58]
Symphonic fragment (1902) [3.15]
Symphony No. 4, Op. 112 (1929/30, rev. 1947) [35.55]
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Kirill Karabits
rec. 11-13 May 2015, The Lighthouse, Poole, Dorset, England
ONYX 4153 [77:49]
This is the final volume in the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s much
acclaimed Prokofiev symphonic cycle under the baton of its chief conductor
Kirill Karabits
(see reviews of
Volumes 1 & 2
and
Volume 3). It comes as no surprise that the Ukraine-born Karabits has
a special affinity with the music of Prokofiev a fellow Ukrainian.
Spanning the years 1916-1952 Prokofiev wrote seven symphonies (eight if
you count the heavily revised and extended
Symphony No. 4) which
inhabit a recognisably individual sound-world. Prokofiev tended to write
music as an emotional response to the challenges created by significant
world events and it has been said that his symphonies mirror the turbulent
history of the twentieth-century.
Prokofiev’s ballet
The Prodigal Son for Diaghilev’s Ballets
Russes formed the basis for his
Symphony No. 4. Premièred the same
year at Boston by his champion Serge Koussevitzky the score met indifference
and the response to subsequent performances in Europe and Russia was little
better. After working in American and Europe in 1936 Prokofiev moved back to
the Soviet Union. Maintaining faith in the potential of the material in 1947
Prokofiev embarked on extensively revising the score into a much longer
work, increasing the instrumentation and allocating it a new opus number
112. Kirill Karabits and his Bournemouth players excel in Prokofiev’s
wide-ranging moods with intelligent, passionately committed playing. Most
insightful of all is the way the conductor successfully negotiates the
challenges presented by the symphonic continuity of the writing. Outstanding
is the opening movement for its firmly convincing performance. The
passionate
Andante tranquillo is dedicated and ripely intense. The
third movement
Moderato quasi allegretto displays its highly
agreeable character and the
Finale:
Allegro risoluto is
excitable and powerfully direct.
Completed in 1947 the
Symphony No. 6 is Prokofiev’s reaction to
those who had lost and suffered during the war years and to his own failing
health. Scored for large orchestra and cast in three movements the score was
introduced later in the year in Leningrad. Andrei Zhdanov, who directed the
Soviet Union cultural policy, harshly criticised the work which consequently
fell foul of Soviet anti-formalism policies leading to Prokofiev’s censure
by the authorities. A devoted interpreter Karabits supplies suitable
momentum and tempi decisions that feel judicious throughout. The way the
severe central movement
Largo grinds menacingly forward is
impressive and the upliftingly raucous final
Vivace has an
abundance of potent energy with an especially powerful conclusion.
A novelty comes in the form of an opportunity to hear the three minute
long
Symphonic fragment that the thirteen year old Prokofiev wrote
in 1902 - the only surviving music from the composer’s first attempt at
writing a symphony. The title page to this rather inconsequential piece of
juvenilia bears a dedication to Reinhold Glière, Prokofiev’s first
composition teacher.
There are a number of fine sets of the Prokofiev complete symphonies
available and those most likely to be encountered are from:
LSO/Gergiev;
Berliner Philharmoniker/Ozawa; Orchestre National de
Paris/Rostropovich;
Gürzenich-Orchester Köln/Kitajenko;
LSO/Weller, Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Neeme Järvi (
Chandos) and Moscow Radio Symphony
Orchestra/Rozhdestvensky on
Melodiya. Kirill Karabits’ complete cycle on Onyx
gives a remarkably consistent level of performance together with excellent
sound and can stand alongside any of those sets mentioned.
Michael Cookson
