Prokofiev's symphonies

[rubio]

What are your favourite individual recordings of Prokofievs symphonies 1-7? I have Gergiev's set which I am not so satisfied about. I have just got Mravinsky's 6th, and I will order Ancerl's 1st and Kondrashin's account of the 3rd. Any other really good readings? What about Karajan's 5th? 

[The new erato]

To add to the confusion: What about the recent Jurowski 5th on Pentatone?

[not edward]

I don't have favourites for all of the individual symphonies, but you have or are going to have most of mine (Ancerl studio for the 1st, Kondrashin for the 3rd, Mravinsky for the 6th, Gergiev for the 7th).

I do very much like BSO/Koussevitsky in the 5th, though the mono sound (really not bad for its era, though) may put some off.

[Brian]

To add to the confusion: What about the recent Jurowski 5th on Pentatone?

Lukewarm reviews. I head the 5th for the first time last weekend and decided to listen to a recording, but steered clear of the Jurowski because ClassicsToday thought it was pretty good but not great. I listened to Kuchar's on Naxos instead - it actually sounded exactly like the live performance I'd been to, except with more reverb (I sat in the third row). The coupling, No. 1, was a little slower than I'm used to and not particularly jubilant.

[Drasko]

No.3  Rozhdestvensky / USSR State SO (live 1961, Revelation)

There are two very cheap copies from amazon.uk sellers, should be snapped imo (coupled Temirkanov's Shostakovich is a dud)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Prokofiev-Symphony-No-Shostakovich-5/dp/B000006B9F

[Peregrine]

No.3  Rozhdestvensky / USSR State SO (live 1961, Revelation)

There are two very cheap copies from amazon.uk sellers, should be snapped imo (coupled Temirkanov's Shostakovich is a dud)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Prokofiev-Symphony-No-Shostakovich-5/dp/B000006B9F

I've snatched one! 

[vandermolen]

No 1 Ozawa
No 2 Weller
No 3 Leinsdorf
No 4 Jarvi
No 5 Rozhdestvensky (not on CD)
No 6 Martinon
No 7 Malko

[BorisG]

If Karajan's 1 & 5 CD is still available, one should probably stop there. The rest of Prokofiev's symphonies do not do much, though 7 can be charming for a few fleeting moments.

Quickly coming to mind and leaving, Ozawa, Dutoit, Gergiev and Martinon attempts made me ill.

[MDL]

1) Weller/LSO/Decca
2) Jarvi/SNO/Chandos
3) Chailly/RCO/Decca, Weller/LPO/Decca
4) The one symphony I don't like, so I can't recommend any recording.
5) Karajan/BPO/DG
6) Ashkenazy/CO/Decca
7/ Ashkenazy/CO/Decca

I haven't heard Gergiev yet.

[Marcel]

Is Gergiev's cycle so bad? Because I have it and I am quite satisfied with it... though I haven't heard any other yet.

[The new erato]

Nobody has mentioned Rostropovich either as recommended or as to be avoided. Is it totally bland?

[karlhenning]

No 1 Ozawa

Here's a case where Ozawa very much zigs where others zag, and I heartily approve the result.  There is an elegance and grace to his pacing of this piece (whose inspiration after all was Haydn, and not von Weber) which Ozawa serves brilliantly with his reading.

This is not to say that I absolutely disapprove of the "circus bee" approach to the 'Classical' Symphony (Ančerl's account is breathtakingly clean, and is a result which recommends itself).  But I am grateful to Ozawa for rediscovering the warmth which in hindsight does indeed seem the natural hue of the piece.

[MDL]

Nobody has mentioned Rostropovich either as recommended or as to be avoided. Is it totally bland?

I've got 3 and 4. The orchestral playing is only average and the recorded sound lacks focus. Rostropovich deserved better.

[longears]

Gergiev's cycle is fine by me.  I have Rostropovich's 1 & 5 but prefer Gergiev's spunkier readings.  BTW, I just heard the St Petersburg (formerly the Leningrad) perform the 5th the other night and it was splendid.  You don't hear ripping brass like that with the LSO or BPO or Slava's French Nationals!

[techniquest]

I can do some of these, but certainly not all...
No.1 - I don't listen to it enought to have a favourite, just as long as it really races to the end and sounds like everyone is having fun
No.2 - My favourite is a live recording I have of Berglund conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 2002. For a commercial disc, I really rate the Kuchar recording on Naxos.
No.3 - ONdeF / Rostropovich
No.4 - don't know it well enough
No.5 - Currently I am happy with the RPO / Handley recording on Classics for Pleasure, but it's a difficult one indeed. The Karajan recording mentioned above, is that the one where the tam-tam sounds as though someone's dropped a metal tray onto the microphone?
No.6 - I grew up with an ancient mono Mravinsky recording on MK. No recording I have heard since has a central movement that is quite so sublime. I get cross when the ending is rushed too!
No.7 - As long as it doesn't have the fast-ending add-on, then OK

[rubio]

Has anybody heard Rozhdestvensky 's complete set of the symphonies on Venezia? His 5th and 6th doesn't seem to be available anywhere else. How does it compare sound-wise to the Melodiya and Consonance recordings?

http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail/1270738

[MDL]

No.5 -  The Karajan recording mentioned above, is that the one where the tam-tam sounds as though someone's dropped a metal tray onto the microphone?
No.7 - As long as it doesn't have the fast-ending add-on, then OK

Yep, the Karajan 5 boasts some of the most over-spotlit tam-tam playing ever recorded. I'm more troubled by the way, in the first movement, it seems to recede with each crash as if it were being wheeled to the back of the orchestra.

And I agree with you about No.7 - there's no need for the tacked-on coda.

[sidoze]

Sym 1 - Kondrashin (live), Ancerl
Sym 6 - Mravinsky (Praga)

Has anyone heard Rozhdestvensky's 5th on BBC Legends? I've heard people call it one of the best. Another one that gets a lot of praise at RMCR is the recently issued (though quite old) Schippers recording.

http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product//MM0122.htm

not a household name but apparently gained quite the cult status while ageing in the archives.

No.1 - I don't listen to it enought to have a favourite, just as long as it really races to the end and sounds like everyone is having fun

which of course most don't. Ancerl and Kondrashin fit it perfectly though

[eyeresist]

*bump*

1 - Malko (benchmark)
2 - Don't care. Even P called it a failure. If only he'd lived to revise it.
3 - Kuchar
4 - Kuchar
5 -
6 - Ashkenazy
7 - Malko (benchmark)

I haven't yet heard a satisfactory complete set. Gergiev's humourless machismo is just what this music doesn't need. Jarvi is competent but ultimately uninspired. Rozdh too often feels prosaic, and has weak playing and poor sound. Kuchar has awful drab reverb-y sound and sometimes lacks finesse. Ashkenazy's 1-5-6-7 set is better than his critics allow, not benchmarks but overall fresh and energetic, with good balance of Russian and modern feel; if he added similar versions of 3 and 4 it would probably be my cycle of choice.

In 5 I've heard the above-named as well as Karajan and Temirkanov. None really does it for me. Temirkanov comes close in sound and playing, but is too affected. So I'm still looking....

In 6, I haven't yet heard Mravinsky. I understand there are two recordings, and would be interested to know their differences.

[Daverz]

Grab the Weller set if you can find it.

Some others worth mentioning:

3: Chailly.  This one will knock your socks off.
4: Ormandy
6: Mravinsky on Praga