Prokofiev's Paddy Wagon

[Karl Henning]

time.

I hear ya!

[Iota]

Favorite recordings of the complete piano sonatas? I'd like to own a set.

I see you've now chosen and are enjoying the Dinara Klinton set, which I don't know but will certainly  check out.
Just to say that like others here I'd probably put  Ovchinnikov and Raekallio at the top of the pile (with for me Ovchinnikov in top spot), but don't discount Frederic Chiu on Harmonia Mundi whose set is excellent, and in places outdoes both of them imo. With the added advantage that for me his account of Visions fugitives greatly exceeds Raekallio's (Ovchinnikov sadly doesn't include them).

[Roy Bland]

The final concert of the Stanislav Gorkovenko Festival will take place on December 7 in the Great Hall of the St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonic named after D. D. Shostakovich, the final concert of the Stanislav Gorkovenko Festival will take place.

According to the organizers, two world and two Russian musical premieres will be performed by the St. Petersburg Governor's Symphony Orchestra conducted by Anton Lubchenko. The main point of the program will be the first performance of Sergei Prokofiev's music for the 1942 film "Partisans in the Steppes of Ukraine" by Igor Savchenko. The second world premiere is Anton Lubchenko's Violin Concerto No. 3, created specifically for the festival.

The Russian premiere of the closing concert will be Kurt Weill's Symphony No. 2. Also this evening, the orchestral play "Danaida" by the St. Petersburg composer Boris Tishchenko, a student of Dmitry Shostakovich, will be performed.

[relm1]

Any one have further details on Prokofiev's unfinished last opera - Distant Seas?  According to this link, it is based on the play The Honeymoon by V. A. Dykhovichny, which I can't find any details about!  What is the plot?  Who is the author?  No details at all!

http://www.sprkfv.net/journal/three21/distantseas1.html

[Roy Bland]

Any one have further details on Prokofiev's unfinished last opera - Distant Seas?  According to this link, it is based on the play The Honeymoon by V. A. Dykhovichny, which I can't find any details about!  What is the plot?  Who is the author?  No details at all!

http://www.sprkfv.net/journal/three21/distantseas1.html

I found this fragment

[vandermolen]

Just acquired this very good value boxed set of historical performances (£12.57 for 10 CDs)
The symphonies include the following:
Symphony No.1 (Fricsay)
Symphony No.4 (Ormandy)
Symphony No.5 (Szell)
Symphony No.6 (Mravinsky, 1959)
Symphony No.7 (Martinon)

[Karl Henning]

Just acquired this very good value boxed set of historical performances (£12.57 for 10 CDs)
The symphonies include the following:
Symphony No.1 (Fricsay)
Symphony No.4 (Ormandy)
Symphony No.5 (Szell)
Symphony No.6 (Mravinsky, 1959)
Symphony No.7 (Martinon)

Nice! I bridle somewhat at the imputation that the Second is inessential, but Go fight City Hall, as they say.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Just acquired this very good value boxed set of historical performances (£12.57 for 10 CDs)
The symphonies include the following:
Symphony No.1 (Fricsay)
Symphony No.4 (Ormandy)
Symphony No.5 (Szell)
Symphony No.6 (Mravinsky, 1959)
Symphony No.7 (Martinon)

Nice!

[vandermolen]

Nice! I bridle somewhat at the imputation that the Second is inessential, but Go fight City Hall, as they say.

Yes, same about No.3 which is one of my favourites.

[kyjo]

Hello, Prokofiev Hivemind! I need to know: which recording of the 5th Symphony has the most nightmarish, cataclysmic, brutal, psychotic, alarming, bone-chilling climax at the center of the slow movement?? This remarkable passage is one of my absolute favorite in all of music (and indeed Prokofiev's 5th as a whole is one of my all-time favorite pieces), all the more so because it's rather unexpected coming from the generally quite optimistic Prokofiev.

P.S. You're welcome to simply name your favorite recording(s) of the 5th as a whole. As Hurwitz has remarked, it's a tough piece to get truly "right" on disc, and I haven't heard a completely satisfying rendition yet (both interpretively and sonically).

[Lisztianwagner]

Hello, Prokofiev Hivemind! I need to know: which recording of the 5th Symphony has the most nightmarish, cataclysmic, brutal, psychotic, alarming, bone-chilling climax at the center of the slow movement?? This remarkable passage is one of my absolute favorite in all of music (and indeed Prokofiev's 5th as a whole is one of my all-time favorite pieces), all the more so because it's rather unexpected coming from the generally quite optimistic Prokofiev.

P.S. You're welcome to simply name your favorite recording(s) of the 5th as a whole. As Hurwitz has remarked, it's a tough piece to get truly "right" on disc, and I haven't heard a completely satisfying rendition yet (both interpretively and sonically).

Personally speaking, I find the climax of the third movement in Karajan's performance incredibly anguishing, dramatic and beautifully frightful, with so thunderous, fiercely sharp clashes of tam tam in the grotesque waltz section. Karajan/BPO is, of course, my favourite recording.
The Adagio is a stunning movement overall for its extremely immersive atmosphere, so dreamy and pure, yet somberly nostalgic, like a serene, peaceful dimension by that time far, at the beginning and in the ending, contrasted by a powerfully tense and haunting central part.

[vers la flamme]

Hello, Prokofiev Hivemind! I need to know: which recording of the 5th Symphony has the most nightmarish, cataclysmic, brutal, psychotic, alarming, bone-chilling climax at the center of the slow movement?? This remarkable passage is one of my absolute favorite in all of music (and indeed Prokofiev's 5th as a whole is one of my all-time favorite pieces), all the more so because it's rather unexpected coming from the generally quite optimistic Prokofiev.

P.S. You're welcome to simply name your favorite recording(s) of the 5th as a whole. As Hurwitz has remarked, it's a tough piece to get truly "right" on disc, and I haven't heard a completely satisfying rendition yet (both interpretively and sonically).

Well, I don't know, having only heard one recording: Marin Alsop in São Paulo, but your description of that passage makes me want to hear the Prokofiev 5th again asap.

[Karl Henning]

As Hurwitz has remarked, it's a tough piece to get truly "right" on disc,

Hurwitz' remark is difficult to take seriously as aught other than easy snobbery. It's certainly not to be taken at artistic face value: I've heard too many good-to-excellent accounts on disc.

[relm1]

Hello, Prokofiev Hivemind! I need to know: which recording of the 5th Symphony has the most nightmarish, cataclysmic, brutal, psychotic, alarming, bone-chilling climax at the center of the slow movement?? This remarkable passage is one of my absolute favorite in all of music (and indeed Prokofiev's 5th as a whole is one of my all-time favorite pieces), all the more so because it's rather unexpected coming from the generally quite optimistic Prokofiev.

P.S. You're welcome to simply name your favorite recording(s) of the 5th as a whole. As Hurwitz has remarked, it's a tough piece to get truly "right" on disc, and I haven't heard a completely satisfying rendition yet (both interpretively and sonically).

You might find this trombone excerpt website interesting where you can sample this excerpt from different recordings.  Seizi Ozawa and MTT are quite nightmarish I think.  Gergiev is on cocaine.  Previn is refined.

http://www.tromboneexcerpts.org/Excerpts/Prokofiev5/Prokofiev5_Bass_3_1.html

[Symphonic Addict]

A first encounter with this incidental music in its entirety and a pleasant surprise it was. This is a very atmospheric score where the composer's skills for melody, harmony and orchestration are in full display (just notice the opening melody, so lovely). It sounded to me more lyrical than exalted. It contains some spoken parts, but fortunately they are few. Perhaps not top-drawer Prokofiev, but I think is a very good work, so are the performance and recording.

[Karl Henning]

A first encounter with this incidental music in its entirety and a pleasant surprise it was. This is a very atmospheric score where the composer's skills for melody, harmony and orchestration are in full display (just notice the opening melody, so lovely). It sounded to me more lyrical than exalted. It contains some spoken parts, but fortunately they are few. Perhaps not top-drawer Prokofiev, but I think is a very good work, so are the performance and recording.

The image isn't showing for me. What inc. music?

[Symphonic Addict]

The image isn't showing for me. What inc. music?

Can you see it here? It's the incidental music for Egyptian Nights.

[Karl Henning]

Can you see it here? It's the incidental music for Egyptian Nights.

I see now, thanks. Yes, I remember enjoying that. I'll listen again right now!

[relm1]

What do folks think about Seiji Ozawa's Prokofiev Symphony cycle?  How does it compare to the great ones?

[Karl Henning]

What do folks think about Seiji Ozawa's Prokofiev Symphony cycle?  How does it compare to the great ones?

I like it a great deal. Ozawa at his best, and the Berliners need no further praise.