Customer Reviews

Prokofiev: Symphonies No. 1 "Classical" and No. 2; Dreams, Op. 6; Autumnal

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

 

 

Gramophone magazine didn't like this recording and there are some points in that review that I have to agree on. The first symphony IS slow until the finale and seems to go on forever. However I did like the second symphony, a strong and purposefull reading of an quite difficult work. The strings do tend to be swamped by the brass sometimes but it did not bother me that much. And the two shorter tone-poems are performed beautifully with commitment and lovely stringplaying. In short, buy this one for the rare items, but not for the first symphony.

I purchased this because I heard a performance of the Second Symphony but didn't want to spend a lot. I really got my money's worth! Kuchar and the Ukrainian NSO put in an excellent performance, and the recording quality is fine. My only quibble is with the liner notes, which state that there is 'no Scriabin influence' in the early Opus 6 'Dreams' which is included (there certainly is)! I highly recommend this CD.

No doubt, there will be some who will find Kuchar's reading of Prokofiev's First too slow and pan the whole disc accordingly: this would be a mistake. It's true that Kuchar's First is to crisper, more lithe readings of the score what, say, fifties renderings of Bach's Mass are to later versions done on authentic instruments. But in the present context, sandwiched as it is between the late Romantic stylings of Dreams and Autumn (redolent of Scriabin and Rachmaninov but still lovely) on the one hand, and the brutalist but still Romantic (a Romanticism, defined broadly, of industry that is, akin to the Italian Futurists, rather than one with the usual pastoral connections) Second Symphony on the other, Kuchar's weightier First works exceedingly well. As such, the disc is a marvel of programming. It's fascinating, for instance, how the more pensive variations and the closing thema of the neglected Second echo the contemplative beauty of the earlier Dreams (if in a more anxious manner). If only for the awesome, superbly well done Second symphony, this Naxos set is a no brainer.

I can't believe it. They actually want money for this recording.