Customer Reviews

Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6 in E flat minor / Waltz Suites Nos. 2, 5 & 6, Opp. 110, 111

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the first Prokofiev Symphony I ever fell in love with. My twin brother bought this recording when we were still in high school. It is a wonder of strong dark brassy chords, long indulgent melodic lines that seem to wrap around themselves and powerful atmospheric writing. The playing by the RSNO is absolutely beautiful. It is no wonder that this recording was a Gramophone award winner.

Symphony No. 6 is amongst Prokofiev's finest works and is vastly underrated. I recommend this recording without reservation.

The symphony is greatly overshadowed by the first and fifth. It shouldn't be. It's an outstanding work that showcases Prokofiev's brilliant bipolar composition style (lyrical and romantic to angular and grotesque)while really having something important to say. Jaarvi does a great job here. He gets the Russians.

This chilling symphony deserves a firm, heartfelt performance. It must be unrelenting in energy, and use sensible modulations in tempo, particularly in the broad opening Allegro moderato. There should be a lighter, even ebullient argument mounted in the final vivace, but the last notes should bring home Prokofiev's inner meaning in this war tragedy- that the wounds of war, particularly the psychological, continued to be felt by postwar audiences.

Neeme Jarvi will not disappoint. His direction of the RSNO, a fine ensemble, will be hard to surpass in this rather underplayed work. The Ozawa version, from the 1991 to 1993 cycle with DG, has none of the passion and bite required. In that version, the tempo is too slow, creating an inappropriately urbane, restricted interpretation. Rather, this work should intimate wilderness and unbridled energy and Jarvi gives the work a full-blooded performance worthy of a Russian!

The vivid, spacious recording is typical of Chandos' high standards. The unremitting pursuit of the horror and tragedy of the work make this worthy of five stars. A certain highlight of the Prokofiev recorded repertoire.

I prefer to see this piece in the following arc: 2,3,6. 1 is a fascinating experiment, and a great piece, 4 and 5 are from the Prokofiev's melancholic side, where the caustic, orgiastic interludes are absent. 6 is a kind of last glance into that abyss, this time sounding a bit more like a controlled explosion: the crescendo of the first movement is a final fix for those who rank Prokofiev with the greatest oracles of lyrical chaos.

The other thing that no one else mentions here are the waltzes. They are fantastic, amazing, and of all the suites in the Jarvi cycle, these three are the best. A great disc, but get the whole set (although the boxed cycle does not have the extras (waltzes and suites, and the fantastic collection of oddball pieces on the Dreams disc).

The Sixth is simply head, shoulders and torso above any of the others, and why it has been so neglected is inexplicable.

Great performance. Great recording.

Not to be missed.

Many consider Prokofiev's sixth to be his best. Personally, I have to say that I still think the fifth is the pinnacle of his symphonic output, but there is no doubt that this one is a masterpiece as well. It is a dark and troubled (and tempestuous) work, and Järvi and the Scottish players play it with fire, spirit, conviction and deep understanding. The first movement is darkly menacing, and despite its oppressive shadows this performance manages to find glimmers of hope and real beauty in the andante. The hollowly triumphant, rambunctious finale is played with panache and urgency all the way to the frenziedly frightening conclusion. Throughout the whole work, Järvi leads a performance with admirable attention to detail and an unerring sense of overall purpose. They are also given a vivid recorded sound; relatively close and perhaps a little rough around the edges, but magnificently effective and with a particularly well-defined bass.

Is it a first choice, though? Overall, I think Järvi's is the strongest complete cycle of Prokofiev symphonies in the catalogue, but there are some really strong performances of no.6 out there - the old Mravinsky performance, for instance, although that one is slightly undermined by old mono sound. On the other hand, the sixth is the one work where I think Gergiev's new cycle provides real competition for Järvi - it is the strongest installment in that cycle (whereas I think the second and third symphonies are the strongest single performances in the Järvi) and I do think that Gergiev is, in the end, tauter and displays an even firmer grip on the overall argument. Yet I would not want for forgo Järvi - it's visceral, earthy power provides for an exhilarating listening experience. The coupling is half of the Waltz suite op.110, and while it receives a strong, characterful performance it is not really anything that would affect the overall judgment in any way. Strongly recommended.

Prokofiev's orchestrations, like Beethoven's, are naturally heavy. As a composer known for his precocity, the weight of the orchestration is obviously meant as an in-your-face dare. It is therefore important to exploit this fact as much as possible.

Aided by wonderful technical recording aspects, Järvi's interpretation of Prokofiev's symphonies and other symphonic works is unmatched. These recordings with the Scottish National Orchestra contain great acoustic reverberation, ecstatic woodwinds, fiery strings, and blaring brass. If you're a fan of French Horns especially, then you'll love these recordings.

Järvi never loses a sense of playfulness. The orchestra stays together quite nicely, and you may actually have to turn the volume down at times! There are certainly other terrific recordings of Prokofiev's orchestral works. I'm mainly thinking of an old recording of the Fifth I had with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. But why bother? Your search stops here.

Sergey Sergeyevich Prokofiev

Symphony No. 6 in E flat minor, op. 111
Waltz Suite op. 110

Neeme Jarvi
Scottish National Orchestra
Edwin Paling

(Chandos - DDD - 1986)

Jarvi and the Scottish National Orchestra made a fantastic series of CDs of various Prokofiev symphonies and every one of them is a near definitive recording. This version of the Symphony Number 6 is one of the three best even within that series. The Waltz Suite are from three larger pieces: Track 4 is "In the palace" from Cinderella, Track 5 is "New Year's Eve Ball" from War and Peace, and Track 6 "happiness" is from Cinderella. All of these segments of the Waltz Suite are delightful. This is a Five Star CD.

Prokofiev conducted his 5th symphony sometime after World War II ended and while doing so fell off of the podium. He would never be the same again. His recooperation was long and hard and he wrote music even though the doctors and nurses warned him to take it easy. The result was this dark masterpiece called his 6th symphony, op.111.

The Prokofiev 6th symphony is in three movements which is odd for Prokofiev at this point in his career. I sometimes think that he was secretly in competition if only in his own mind against the Shostakovich 6th also cast in three movements, but done in 1939. Whatever the case the Prokofiev 6th is written in E-flat minor: a key which has the most flats of any scale used in Western music. The first two movements are very serious followed by a seemingly flippant third movement. The Shostakovich 6th is dominated by a very long Largo which is depressing followed by two scherzo-like movements. So there are some differences between the Prokofiev 6th and the Shostakovich 6th. Besides that the Prokofiev 6th doesn't even come close to quoting anything from the Shostakovich 6th. I am a Shostakovich fanatic and I tell you this: if every work of Prokofiev were as deep and challenging as his 6th symphony I would be a Prokofiev devotee instead!

Jarvi draws a very sympathetic performance from the Scottish National Orchestra. The first movement has a slow march-like tempo to it which seems to elude many conductors for some reason, but not Jarvi he is dead on. The second movement seems to be a continuation of the tragedy of the first movement, but even Prokofiev couldn't top himself in that classic first movement so he doesn't try. What is surprising about this symphony is the seeming lightweight finale. It's a kind of all is well that ends well finale. What interrupts the pomp and fun are two seperate orchestral tutti's which seem tragic in nature.
What was Prokofiev trying to do here? I thought about when the symphony was written: in the wake of World War II. What two big clashes could these be? Ah, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs! It's almost to clever to be true, but that is my hypothesis.

This is truly a great work of art. It is contructed well and has colorful if dark orchestral hues for the most part. If this were the last CD you were to ever buy of 20th century classical music I would get it. I feel that strongly about the Prokofiev 6th and the performance by the Scottish National Orchestra under Neeme Jarvi. The Waltz from Cinderella is a bonus. Five Stars. Outstanding!

Prokofiev's sixth symphony if not my favorite Prokofiev, but this is an excellent recording. The waltzes are very enjoyable.