Customer Reviews

Ivan the Terrible

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4 star:		(1)
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Ivan the Terrible is actually an unfinished work of Sergei Prokofiev. The music was written for the films of Sergei Eisenstein (simply called Ivan the Terrible parts one and two) that was filmed from 1942-44 (part one) and 1946-48 (part 2). Eisentstein was at odds with the Soviet government over
his depiction of Ivan. Stalin saw himself as a latter day Ivan and wanted the image of the Tsar sanitized; Eisenstein did not want to be so artistically inhibited. The hounding the director received from the Soviet government most likely contributed to his death in 1950. The first part of
Ivan received a Stalin prize but the second part was not shown until 1958.

Prokofiev began to arrange a cantata based on his music for the film but had not finished it when Eisenstein died. The composer found Abram Stassevich completed it impossible to continue work and the cantata. Although Ivan is not as well known as Alexander Nevsky, the music is equally powerful and evocative.

Valery Gergiev has chosen to omit the spoken dialogue, which explains the story but is more of a distraction.
This performance by the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Kirov Opera Chorus, with Liubov Sokolova and Nikolai Putilin singing the solos, is a powerful performance of this cantata. Those interested in Prokofiev will want this disc.

Prokofiev wrote a lot of garish, at times nearly berserk music for Eisenstein's epic, unfinished trilogy, Ivan the Terrible. The project, begun in 1942, dragged on for years, and the composer lost both inspiration and his health, dying before his music could be shaped into concert form like the wildly successful cantata derived from Alexander Nevsky. The music ofr Ivan is boisterous, at times steely, lacking in the tragic element, but full of folk choruses and even a few moments of quiet mystical serenity in the midst of a lot of bombast.

To really bring it off you need Russians, and those Russians should be going hell-for-leather. Under Gergiev they do as never before. Despite the Dutch orchestra (which sounds Russian enough to fool the rest of us), the Kirov chorus brings the right Slavic energy, as do the two soloists and of course Gergiev himself. There are moments when you think he's the greatest conductor in the world, especially when sheer dramatic momentum is called for. This CD rises to the top of the list. For those who care about performance editions, this is the long oratorio arranged by Abram Stasevich, minus the (extensive) spoken narration.

the music is good, but it sounds like Alexander Nevsky, which is another sort of opera from the genial Prokofiev. Ofcourse that ius not a problem for the music, `cause the singing as well as the orchestra perform above average. In the opera are some sketches which add Russian feel to it. They are not rich or exuberant but they are there. In the booklet, which is comnplete, by the way, those intermissions are made clear. Just those intermissions are important and make/made me think 4 or 5 stars. 4 stars almost 5