Customer Reviews

Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky (film score)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Becaue of its spectacular sonics, and because it includes so much more of the film score than the cantata Prokofiev extracted for concert performances, this is a great Nevsky, ultra-dramatic and performed with real Russian fire. I dont listen to Nevsky very often, but when I do I reach for this reading or the live Stokowski on Music and Arts, which is of the cantata. Anyway, this performance leaves Reiner and Abbado in the dust.

five stars. The singing is excellent. I do not understand Russian, but this record sure makes you wanting to. The book enclosed is perfect. Did I mention the high quality music Are you looking for Hollywood, please this is not for you Are you looking for craftmanship and nothing else, this one is for you

I don't agree with most of Emerson Paubel's review. Yes, this soundtrack is a tad longer than I'd prefer. But really, what did Paubel expect from an epic? The music is sumptuous. The imagery communicated is always expressive and often stupendous. The sound quality, especially in the rumbling basses jumps out and grabs you. I do agree with Paubel's view that "The Battle on the Ice" is a great cut, but it's certainly nothing close to being the only one. When you buy this CD, be realistic about what it is: the soundtrack of a Russian epic on an emotional par with the Turner production of "Gettysburg" in 1993, and you won't be go wrong.

Sergei Prokofiev's "Alexander Nevsky" score is well worth hearing for the material left out of the cantata. Admittedly, the cantata contains all the important parts of the music and is more disciplined in form. It also contains a unique revision in the "Battle on the Ice" movement.

But if you can live without that revision (and you can), there's a more enjoyable quality to hearing the full score. For one thing, the pace is more relaxed. In the cantata, the battle music seems too crowded and crammed together. In the score it is stretched out. The cantata also lacks the very interesting percussion music that accompanies Nevsky as he fights the leader of the Tartars.

Some of the music is repeated, because that is how it worked out on film. On CD this may be somewhat unnecessary, but it's not a big deal anyhow. One of the distractions on this "complete recording" is the inclusion of some of the movies battle scene sounds of sword clashing etc. This interrrupts the continuity of the music and is somewhat aggravating.

But there's more to enjoy than to critisize. Especially for someone new to classical music, this CD will make a great impact. The sound is a bit distant, but I believe this quibble is fixed in RCA's recent re-release of this performance.

OK, a crash course in Alexander Nevsky 101. It was written for the soundtrack of a magnificent 1938 film. There are two versions of the music, (1) performances of the movie soundtrack score and (2) performances of a cantata or suite that Prokofiev wrote summarizing the movie score. This CD has the soundtrack score, not just the cantata.

A recording of Yuri Temirkinov and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic is THE Alexander Nevsky CD to own, regardless of what other versions you may already have in your library. The highly-regarded recordings of the 20th century sound a bit tired and dated compared to these presentations by Temirkinov and his performers!

Also, because this was recorded specifically to upgrade the sound for a new release of the movie, you'll probably get a few sound effects thrown in here and there (swordplay, etc.). I say "probably" because there are multiple releases of this Temirkinov performance, and I have yet to figure out what the differences are. In today's marketplace, RCA has a 1995 CD, a 1996 "enhanced" CD (I own this one) and a 2004 "remastered" CD.

FWIW, for the cantata (not the soundtrack score) the Alexander Nevsky recording to own is the magnificent 2003 recording from Philips, by Conductor Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet Theater Orchestra, also from St. Petersburg. Temirkinov and Gergiev are both razor-sharp interpreters of Prokofiev's theatrical music!

Interesting but not surprising that today's two finest Alexander Nevsky recordings should both come from the musicians of St. Petersburg.

I own this recording on laser disk, 1994, with the modern orchestral recording in sync with the 1938 film. When will this recording be available on DVD?

This, to me, is the best film score of all time. I have listened to it more times than I can count, and every instance I feel my heart pound with the emotion Prokofiev's music contains. Fifty minutes is not long enough, not when he is speaking through brass and cymbals and voice (and other instruments), and telling you a story in the roller-coaster way that he can, moving in and out of dark and light the way he can. After listening to Alexander Nevsky a few times, I was able to identify the number of times other film composers pattern themselves after his work. Nothing new, to be sure, but always interesting to me, someone utterly untrained in music, to notice.

I highly recommend this piece.

John Goberman wrote about this score as being probably the best music ever written for a film, but I don't think so... Despite Prokofiev is considered by many a great 20th century composer, the music for "Alexander Nevsky" is quite boring and I get happy when music finishes its final tunes. I just can't stand to hear the 50 minutes! Ok, there are magnificent tracks like "The Bttle on the Ice", but definitely it's not the BEST score of all time... it's just another soundtrack, not better than "Gone with the Wind".