Prokofiev's Paddy Wagon

[Nick]

I think Leon Botstein is concerned about PC considerations. At the opening night of the festival last summer, he announced that the next season would be on Wagner and His World, and there was a gasp. But he immediately clarified that there would be concurrent performances of works by Mendelssohn and Meyerbeer, and then spoke about anti semitism for a minute or two.

Prof. Gibbs actually gave a decent pre-concert lecture, and considering his comment, he was a model in professionalism. To me, the scandal came when Prof. Richard Wilson, a composer from Vassar, took the stage before one of the last programs. He started innocently enough with a gaffe about formalism meaning "diatonic," where modern music is "chromatic," and he demonstrated that the Piano Sonata No. 9, Op.103 was diatonic. He started comparing passages in the sonata to Beethoven pieces in a totally text-based, New Criticism sort of way, and then showed us what he thought were "banal" and "cheesy" passages in the Ninth and Seventh sonatas. Then he compared the slow movement of the Seventh Sonata to Jack Benny, a vaudeville comedian, and he played a portion of Jack Benny.

Since I know Prof. Wilson, I came up to him afterwards and told him that I thought the lecture was inappropriate. I said that if Prokofiev biographer Simon Morrison had given a lecture on Stravinsky at a Stravinsky festival, he would have been more respectful. "But Stravinsky doesn't have that banal quality," said Prof. Wilson. "Well, we wouldn't make fun of him for taking other people's music and passing it off as his own, or flirting with serial music," I responded. And he walked off.

Before the performance of the October Cantata, Op.74, his wife came up to me and told me that I shouldn't have said those things to Prof. Wilson on account of his age. She told me that he had prepared very hard for that lecture and that it wasn't right to criticize him right afterwards. Pre-concert lectures are like performances, she told me, and it would be like telling him right afterwards that I didn't like his performance. It was amusing to me that she had understood that her husband was saying merely that Prokofiev started out with material that was banal but that he managed to make it more interesting.

For the record, I don't think in a pejorative manner about serial music, but I wanted to attack Wilson and thought I would do best by insinuating that Stravinsky was a critics-lackey. At intermission, I had asked Wilson if he liked Prokofiev, and without looking at me, he said, "Only some of the pieces." "You're a Stravinskyite." "I'm a Stravinskyite."

[karlhenning]

I think Leon Botstein is concerned about PC considerations. At the opening night of the festival last summer, he announced that the next season would be on Wagner and His World, and there was a gasp.

He didn't say, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" . . . ?

[techniquest]

Today I received the Beaux recording of the 20th anniversary cantata with the New Philharmonia Orchestra & St Petersberg Philharmonic Choir under Alexander Titov. It's definitely one to listen to, and is a recording of the full original score, not the revised version recorded by Kondrashin in 1965. Some of the instrumentation is altered from both Jarvi's recording - e.g gone are the big tam-tam crashes on the big chords at the opening, and Kondrashin's e.g the snappy rifle sounds during the 'Revolution' are achieved by a well recorded snare drum, and the manic clanging bell which heralds an even faster tempo for Kondrashin is a rather feeble affair (not sure what it is - not a tubular bell, nor a cow-bell...possibly an anvil). The narrator sounds as though he is being over-run, which is probably how it should be - Kondrashin's is clear and confident, Jarvi's (Rozhdestvensky) sounds too self-conscious.
The 'Philosophy' opening song is still best with Kondrashin, the 'Symphony' here under Titov is satisfying.
This recording is coupled with the 30th Anniversary cantata 'Praise our Mighty Country' (a much reduced and sterilised work) and 'Zdravitsa', here called 'The Toast', often called 'The Salute' which is actually pretty good. The Beaux people have made an error here however, as their track listing has the 30th Anniversary cantata and 'The Toast' interchanged from how it appears on the CD.
The recording throughout is clear, up-front (loud) and well balanced; the piano part in 'The Toast' is something I hadn't really noticed up to now, under Titov it sounds wonderful, a true member of the orchestra.
So that's 5 versions of op.74 I've heard now (Kondrashin, Jarvi, Elder, Gergiev (live) and Titov). All are very different and demonstrate that this work is (a) a real masterpiece (b) very hard indeed to get right.

[Nick]

I must ask, is there no one in the least bit excited about the new production of Prokofiev's On the Dnieper at American Ballet Theatre, to premiered on June 1st, 2009? The production is being choreographed by the hottest choreographer of the present day, Alexei Ratmansky. Some of the biggest stars in ballet will be performing, including Diana Vishneva.

This work has everything going for it: melody, orchestral ambience, and a lot of rhythmic interest and vitality. There's off-beat accents and pungent dramatic characterization. I certainly urge you all to look into it.

[karlhenning]

Well, as you asked, no, not much excited about it.  It isn't among the works of Prokofiev which most fire my imagination.

[Nick]

I find that puzzling. I would have expected that fans of Stravinsky would admire the work as much as he did.

To me, I'm really attracted to just about every minute of this score, from the austere ambience of the Introduction, the graceful melodies of the Mime Scenes that seem distant and magical. There's the rhythmic drive in Fight, and bleak tragedy of the Betrothal with surging themes. In some ways, the work sounds closer than the other ballets to the folk-based atmosphere of Stone Flower. It's a rural score. I feel like I'm in the mountains when I listen to it. In a parable.

This is likely Prokofiev's least well-regarded music for the ballet, but it's extraordinary music and more appealing to me in many respects than Stone Flower. I know Prokofiev biographer Harlow Robinson, who much admires the piece, would agree with me on that.

[karlhenning]

I find that puzzling. I would have expected that fans of Stravinsky would admire the work as much as Stravinsky did.

Doesn't necessarily work that way. Consider what a great fan Shostakovich was of Mahler. I love a great deal of Shostakovich's oeuvre, but as a rule, am relatively lukewarm to Mahler.

I know Prokofiev biographer Harlow Robinson, who much admires the piece, would agree with me on that.

Oh, that's all right.  I have disagreed with Professor Robinson ere now 

[Nick]

It's a real pity to me that Balanchine and Prokofiev didn't hit it off a bit better. Baryshnikov quoted Balanchine (about Prokofiev), "he was a bastard." Prokofiev wasn't willing to cooperate on Prodigal Son to the extent that Balanchine desired.

Still, it's hard to imagine Balanchine choreography to Chout, Le Pas d'Acier, On the Dnieper, or the story ballets. There's a bit too much of a plot associated with all of them, or, at least, some of them seem to have their own agenda. I think Balanchine would have resisted that.

[karlhenning]

It's a real pity to me that Balanchine and Prokofiev didn't hit it off a bit better. Baryshnikov quoted Balanchine (about Prokofiev), "he was a bastard."

Prokofiev was without question a prickly character.

[Nick]

Karl, I'd noticed that you had asked this board about their opinions on Winter Bonfire, Op.122. What did you think about this work?

I'm curious if you have the same reaction to Prokofiev's more folk-laden work that I do. (This does not describe the Op. 122.)

Sometimes, in On the Dnieper, Op.51; String Quartet No.2, Op.92; parts of Stone Flower, Op.188, he manages to exude an atmosphere of folk-music without spinning out a lot of ditties.

But overall, it seemed to me that Prokofiev was at his worst (i.e. Opp. 89, 106, 121, parts of 79, etc.) when he spun short, simple, folk stuffs into his music that attracts the criticism of "banal." I feel exactly the same way about the Bartok For Children, First Term at the Piano, Two Romanian Folk Dances, much of the Mikrokosmos and Fifteen Hungarian Peasant Songs etc. although some of the others like Four Piano Pieces, Rhapsody don't appeal to me for other reasons.

[karlhenning]

Karl, I'd noticed that you had asked this board about their opinions on Winter Bonfire, Op.122. What did you think about this work?

I need to revisit it . . . I think I've only listened to it once, and none too recently.

[Nick]

Karl, I wouldn't spend too much time looking into the Winter Bonfire, Op.122. It's a charming piece, light as a feather, but there're bigger fish to fry in Prokofiev's ocean. In the past, you'd expressed admiration for the Five Poems of Anna Akhmatova, Op.27. I'd really recommend the Five Poems, Op.23. To me, and discounting the Five Songs Without Words, Op.35, they're his best pieces for voice and piano.

They come right after the Visions Fugitives, Op.22, and they certainly sound of that style. There's all sorts of invention and exploration with the piano parts. Still, it's rather difficult and expensive to come across these pieces, and the lieder set as a whole contains more shlock than in the other genres of which Prokofiev was a master. But I'd do a lot of other pieces before I got to Winter Bonfire, Op.122.

Perhaps you can direct me to some of the Shostakovich you admire. He is no big fav here per se, but I am only very familiar with the complete string quartets, symphonies, and piano music.

[karlhenning]

Karl, I wouldn't spend too much time looking into the Winter Bonfire, Op.122. It's a charming piece, light as a feather, but there're bigger fish to fry in Prokofiev's ocean. In the past, you'd expressed admiration for the Five Poems of Anna Akhmatova, Op.27. I'd really recommend the Five Poems, Op.23. To me, and discounting the Five Songs Without Words, Op.35, they're his best pieces for voice and piano.

Well, I should really turn up this disc (the one with the Opus 122 on it), because it also has a fine recording of Seven, They Are Seven . . . and I have been mildly annoyed for about a year over failure to turn the disc up somewhere.  (I may possibly misremember the presence of the Opus 122 on this disc, anyway.)

I've got the 3-disc (Delos?) box of the complete voice-&-piano works . . . I haven't quite listened to it all, yet, but I've greatly enjoyed everything I have heard.  Especially The Ugly Duckling, wonderful!

[Nick]

Ugly Ducking, Op.18 is a good one. So, for that matter, are the Five Poems by Konstantin Balmont, Op.36, Two Poems, Op.9, Pushkin Songs, Op.73, or even the Six Mass Songs, Op.66. Still, to me, his lieder output contains his worst work. I find it difficult to take the Op.68, 89, 106, 121, and a lot of 79 too.

But the Five Poems, Op.23 is a real keeper! And the Delos set does it marvelously. They spread them out among three or four different singers from the set, and the pianist gets great results! The recording engineers seem to do a really good job on the piano as well.

[greg]

The only songs I've heard were from this disc, which I've listened to a few times:


If I had to choose a favorite, it'd be op.9, but overall, none of the songs are really interesting.

[karlhenning]

If I had to choose a favorite, it'd be op.9, but overall, none of the songs are really interesting.

What are you saying, Greg!  The Opus 73 Pushkin Romances are exquisite!

Come back to them in 20 years . . . .

[Nick]

Well I happen to think the world of the Five Songs Without Words, Op.35, which exist better in the version for violin and piano. There's a sort of impressionistic quality about those pieces. The same might be said for the Two Poems, Op.9, but I don't think they're at that quality.

Karl's advocated for the Anna Akhmatova, Op.27 works before, so I need not even though I'm a fan. And the Op.36 really have a lot going for them. They were performed recently for the first time in my memory at the new Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center, and the review from Steve Smith is below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/arts/music/10arou.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Prokofiev%20and%20Quintet&st=cse

Smith, a real douchebag in my opinion, expends a lot of energy talking about Prokofiev's "indebtedness" to Stravinsky, and there are only a few details in the Quintet, Op.36 that show that "Prokofiev was not entirely beholden to Stravinsky's influence."

Still, the Five Poems, Op.23 are really something special and not just for pushing the boundaries of voice and piano in a new direction, which is something I could care less about. It could have to do with the recording. I've got the other Carole Farley disc of Prokofiev, and she's serviceable, but her singing is not too distinguished. It's also that these works are very difficult to sing and execute. I imagine the reason the Five Poems, Op.23 were spread onto 3-4 singers is that it's very hard for a singer to capture everything that's going on in those works. But again, I wouldn't pick up that Delos set until I'd listened to a lot of other Prokofiev works.

[karlhenning]

The Opus 23 poems are beautiful; I don't believe I had listened to this disc in the box yet.

The Opus 35 I may possibly prefer sung;  or it could just be a strong favorable impression from listening to this recording.  I've heard them many times on violin (Opus 35a), like them all right in that guise . . . and I certainly recognized everything, it just sounded quite fresh as a vocalise.

Thanks for putting these on my radar; delighted that they cut ahead in the queue.

[greg]

What are you saying, Greg!  The Opus 73 Pushkin Romances are exquisite!

Come back to them in 20 years . . . .

Well, at least in comparison to much of his other stuff... but overall, as music, I do like all the stuff on that CD.

[Nick]

Very glad you liked them, Karl. That Op.23 is very difficult to characterize. There's a bit of the narrative form from the Ugly Duckling, Op.18, the invention of the Visions Fugitives, Op.22, impressionism of Op.35, and a sort of Schubertian quality in some respects. But then Prokofiev was maddeningly difficult to characterize himself.

Greg, what do you think of some of the harder kernals to crack in the Prokofiev piano repertoire, like the Sarcasms, Op.17, Things in Themselves, Op.45, Thoughts, Op.62, or Sonatinas, Op.54?