Sergei Prokofiev - Songs & Romances (Margarita Gritskova; Maria Prinz)

Information

Composer: Sergei Prokofiev

1. The Ugly Duckling, Op. 18
2. The Little Grey Dress, Op. 23 No. 2
3. Trust Me, Op. 23 No. 3
4. The Sorcerer, Op. 23 No. 5
5. The Sun Has Filled My Room, Op. 27 No. 1
6. Real Tenderness, Op. 27 No. 2
7. Memory of the Sun, Op. 27 No. 3
8. Hello!, Op. 27 No. 4
9. The Grey-Eyed King, Op. 27 No. 5
10. Remember Me! - A Malayan spell, Op. 36 No. 4
11. My Grey Dove Is Full of Sorrow, Op. 60bis No. 1
12. Anyutka, Op. 66a No. 2
13. The Chatterbox, Op. 68 No. 1
14. Mark, Ye Bright Falcons, Op. 78bis No. 2
15. The Rosy Dawn Is Colouring the East, Op. 73 No. 2
16. Katerina, Op. 104 No. 6

Margarita Gritskova. mezzo-soprano

Maria Prinz, piano

Date: 2020

Label: Naxos

https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.574030

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Review

Prokofiev’s 72 songs are less well known than other corners of his repertoire, so any chance to increase familiarisation is welcome. Margarita Gritskova, a young Russian mezzo who has been a member of the Wiener Staatsoper ensemble since 2012, here presents a handful of these songs on this new disc, accompanied by the pianist Maria Prinz.

In his booklet note entitled ‘Prokofiev as Melodist’, Wilhelm Sinkovicz describes Prokofiev’s response to the 1917 premiere of his Five Poems of Anna Akhmatova: ‘Many people believed for the first time that I could also write lyrical music.’ And they do have moments of great lyricism, especially when performed with such poise by Gritskova, touchingly tender in ‘Memory of the Sun’, but there are also many stories in Prokofiev’s songs. ‘The Ugly Duckling’ is a familiar enough tale, but there’s also ‘The Sorcerer’ who lives alone in an old castle, so conjures up a wife who is so dutiful, so quiet that he goes off and hangs himself! Or ‘Chatterbox’, a little girl who denies she has any time for chatter while rattling off all the things that keep her busy. There are folk-song settings too, garrulous, animated, often poking fun.

There are a lot of words to get your head around here, so it’s little short of deplorable that Naxos – ‘for copyright reasons’ – has not printed texts or translations for half the songs on this disc. Delos, on its three-disc set of complete songs, managed to publish these texts in full, so I can only surmise that Naxos has skimped for financial reasons, which is a shame because it certainly detracts from enjoyment having to faff around locating these texts online (the Delos booklet proved invaluable).

Gritskova’s performances are a delight though. She has a light, flexible mezzo – she’s sung a fair number of Rossini roles – and displays an engaging personality, particularly in ‘The Rosy Dawn’, a song of mock-innocence about a shepherdess trying to pluck cherries. She relates the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale with ebullience and there’s a twinkle in her eye in ‘Katerina’, one of the Op 104 Russian Folksongs. Listeners more familiar with Prokofiev’s orchestral music will recognise the little song ‘My grey dove is full of sorrow’ from the film music to Lieutenant Kijé and a heartfelt rendition of ‘The Field of the Dead’ from the cantata Alexander Nevsky. Neither of these was set for piano by Prokofiev (hence they are excluded from the Delos set). The songs are presented chronologically, which gives a fair overview of Prokofiev’s output, but the Nevsky lament doesn’t really work when it follows on the heels of ‘Chatterbox’. Clumsy programming and a penny-pinching booklet – given the vocal qualities, that’s a shame.

-- Mark Pullinger, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2020/Jun/Prokofiev_songs_8574030.htm

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2020/Aug/Prokofiev-songs-8574030.htm

https://artmusiclounge.wordpress.com/2020/06/25/gritskova-sings-prokoviev/

https://www.pizzicato.lu/herausragende-cd-mit-prokofiev-liedern/

https://www.allmusic.com/album/prokofiev-songs-and-romances-mw0003369497

https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.574030&languageid=EN

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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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Margarita Gritskova (born 19 December 1987 in Saint Petersburg) is a Russian mezzo-soprano. She studied in the class of Irina Bogatschewa at the State Academy of Music and graduated in 2010. Since 2012 Gritskova has been a member of the ensemble of the Vienna State Opera. She sang all major roles for mezzo-soprano in the Mozart and Rossini repertoire, as well as others such as Bizet's Carmen. Gritskova appears regularly at renowned festivals and leading opera houses, and was voted the best mezzo-soprano of the opera season 17/18. She also frequently appears together with pianist Maria Prinz in songs recitals.

http://www.margarita-gritskova.com/eng/

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