Sergei Prokofiev; Antonín Dvořák - Piano Concerto No. 2; Symphony No. 9 (Horacio Gutiérrez; Klaus Tennstedt)

Information

Composer: Sergei Prokofiev; Antonín Dvořák; Modest Mussorgsky

CD1:

1. Mussorgsky - Night on Bald Mountain (original version)
2. Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16: I. Andantino - Allegro
3. Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16: II. Scherzo. Vivace
4. Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16: III. Intermezzo. Allegro moderato
5. Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16: IV. Finale. Allegro Tempestuoso

CD2:

1. Dvořák - Symphony No. 9 in E minor "From the New World", Op. 95: I. Adagio - Allegro molto
2. Dvořák - Symphony No. 9 in E minor "From the New World", Op. 95: II. Largo
3. Dvořák - Symphony No. 9 in E minor "From the New World", Op. 95: III. Molto vivace
4. Dvořák - Symphony No. 9 in E minor "From the New World", Op. 95: IV. Allegro con fuoco

Horacio Gutiérrez, piano
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Klaus Tennstedt, conductor

Date: 1984
Label: Testament
https://testament.co.uk/klaus-tennstedt-2-cd-set-for-the-price-of-1-56.html

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Review

"... Mussorgsky’s own version of A Night on the Bare Mountain still plays second fiddle to Rimsky-Korsakov’s expert if sanitised re-write, which Tennstedt recorded commercially. His concert performance of Mussorgsky-before-rehabilitation is thrilling and trenchant, galumphing and menacing, glorying in the composer’s unsophisticated but exacting effects to conjure a diabolical ceremony."

"... The Piano Concerto No.2 of Prokofiev receives a fantastical account, less gothic in the first movement than some, the huge cadenza fearlessly dispatched by Horacio Gutierrez (although, when the orchestra returns, to add decibels and layers, one wonders what happened to the cymbal clashes that should occur at 10’33”). The scherzo flies by, but with articulateness a priority; the Intermezzo has remorseless tread; and the finale flies into action, the folksong contrast lavished upon by Gutierrez."

"... As for the ‘New World’, Tennstedt wasn’t afraid to rough things up, to give the music an edge; nothing cosy or sentimental here, yet there’s airy joy too if with a restlessness and nostalgic tinge that brings a volatile first movement (exposition not repeated), painfully arousing in the coda. That most famous of slow movements, the Largo, is broadly painted and without mawkishness, and followed by a superbly exuberant and biting scherzo (although some holdbacks in tempo both here and in the trio do not convince, however vivid the pointing). The finale has massive energy and intensity, Tennstedt unflagging in pushing the music ahead, but with a generosity of spirit that yields lyricism as innate to the whole, the coda properly ‘swing band’. There are some great recordings of the ‘New World’ out there – Concertgebouw/Colin Davis, Vienna Phil/Kondrashin, Israel Phil/Bernstein and BBCSO/Kempe, for starters – and a measure of such significance must surely be to remove cobwebs from music that is played too much; Tennstedt and the Berliners certainly do so with the ‘New World’ and remind of its originality and importance."

-- Colin Anderson, Classical Source

More reviews:
http://www.amazon.com/Prokofiev-Concerto-Symphony-Mussorgsky-Mountain/dp/B003SOJZ5Q

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Sergei Prokofiev (23 April, 1891–March 5, 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor. As the creator of acknowledged masterpieces across numerous genres, he was one of the major composers of the 20th century. Prokofiev wrote seven completed operas, seven symphonies, eight ballets, five piano concertos, two violin concertos, a cello concerto, a symphony-concerto for cello and orchestra, and nine completed piano sonatas, many of which are widely known and heard. He also enjoyed personal and artistic support from a new generation of Russian performers, notably Sviatoslav Richter and Mstislav Rostropovich.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Prokofiev

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Antonín Dvořák (September 8, 1841 – May 1, 1904) was a Czech composer. He was the second Czech composer to achieve worldwide recognition, after Bedřich Smetana. Following Smetana's nationalist example, many of Dvořák's works show the influence of Czech folk music, such as his  two sets of Slavonic Dances, the Symphonic Variations, and the overwhelming majority of his songs. Dvořák wrote in a variety of forms: nine symphonies, ten operas, three concertos, several symphonic poems, serenades for string orchestra and wind ensemble, more than 40 works of chamber music, and piano music.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton%C3%ADn_Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k

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Horacio Gutiérrez (born August 28, 1948 in Havana) is a Cuban-American virtuoso classical pianist. He moved with his family to the United States in 1961, at the age of 13, and studied in Los Angeles with Sergei Tarnowsky, at the Juilliard School under Adele Marcus, and later worked extensively with American pianist William Masselos. Gutiérrez was first seen on American television in 1966, on one of the Young People's Concerts with Leonard Bernstein. Gutiérrez's performance career spans over four decades and he is considered by many piano connoisseurs to be one of the great pianists of the 20th century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horacio_Guti%C3%A9rrez

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Klaus Tennstedt (June 6, 1926 – January 11, 1998) was a German conductor. He studied violin and piano at the Leipzig Conservatory, became a concertmaster of the Halle Municipal Theater, but after a finger injury, he directed his talents toward conducting. Tennstedt was appointed as Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1983, but due to ill-health, he stepped down in 1987 and was later named the LPO's Conductor Laureate. His recordings include a complete cycle of the symphonies of Gustav Mahler. Several of Tennstedt's concert performances have been reissued on CD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_Tennstedt

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