Alexander Mosolov; Sergei Prokofiev; Edgard Varèse - Orchestral Works (Riccardo Chailly)

Information

Composer: Alexander Mosolov; Sergei Prokofiev; Edgard Varèse

1. Mosolov - Iron Foundry, Op. 19
2. Prokofiev - Symphony No. 3 in C minor: I. Moderato
3. Prokofiev - Symphony No. 3 in C minor: II. Andante
4. Prokofiev - Symphony No. 3 in C minor: III. Allegro agitato
5. Prokofiev - Symphony No. 3 in C minor: IV. Andante mosso – Allegro agitato
6. Varèse - Arcana

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Riccardo Chailly, conductor

Date: 1994

Label: Decca

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Review

The three and a half minutes that it takes to stoke Mosolov's uncompromisingly fierce Iron Foundry conjure up a terrifying spectre of faceless hordes sweating in some vast mechanized factory. This was in the late 1920s, when in both Eastern and Western Europe art was still reacting to the futurist imagists of Vladimir Mayakovsky and Fillipo Marinetti, and Sergey Prokofiev was ready to launch his equally disruptive Pas d'Acier ballet. In fact, Prokofiev's convulsive Second Symphony was composed a year or so before Iron Foundry and anticipates (at least in the first movement) the shorter work's screaming, brass-dominated sound-world. Chailly is tougher on this epic-in-miniature than was Svetlanov some years back (on a now-deleted Olympia disc); a watchful foreman, he exerts necessary control over the proceedings, while the recording relates every cog and clanking piston-rod with immense dynamism. Svetlanov's was the more urgent, even frenetic statement, but Chailly builds the piece more convincingly and his recording is vastly superior.

Heard straight after the Mosolov, the opening of Prokofiev's Third Symphony sounds positively complacent—an impression due at least in part to Chailly's refusal to overstate the case. Much of the first movement is carefully calculated and rather overtly deliberate, although things hot up considerably for the central development, and the coda (which echoes the opening's rally call as if in a dream) is extremely delicate. Best of all is the song-like Andante, although the reptilian scherzo sports impressive dynamic extremes and the growling finale—always a tour de force under Chailly—is given its head by the engineers. Chailly had already recorded the work with the German Youth Orchestra (DG, 8/84—nla), a similarly contained affair which MEO thought understated ''the lurid and shadowed colours of the score''. Here I'd say that the understatement is more physical than textural, and if Kondrashin, Jarvi and Muti (not to mention the still-unavailable—and in many ways preferable—Leinsdorf, 7/67, Rozhdestvensky, 2/71 and Abbado, 10/70, all nla) still pack a surer wallop in this most hectic of symphonic statements, Chailly's remains among the more vital and intelligent digital options.

Arcana, too, emerges as more cerebral than visceral, with the quieter music in particular sounding like a galactical offshoot of Stravinsky and Debussy. The ''pounding, muscular figure in crotchet form'' that Calum MacDonald refers to in his excellent notes suggests a close relative of Stravinsky's Prince Kashchei, while elsewhere there are unmistakable premonitions of Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony. Arcana's aural canvas is vast and varied, although full of significant thematic interrelations and with some of the most original and striking orchestration heard anywhere in the first half of this century. Stokowski, the works' dedicatee, must have had a whale of a time with it, but Chailly's recording is as fine as any available today—although I'd love to hear a CD transfer of Jean Martinon's stupendous RCA Chicago version from the 1960s (7/67—nla).

This is an instructive, imaginative and involving programme, a sort of elevated 'listen and learn' that recalls a hugely exciting period of musical history (all three works were completed within a year or so of each other) and makes for a thrilling hour's worth of aural thunder. Do try and hear it.

-- Gramophone

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

https://www.classical-music.com/reviews/orchestral/prokofievvaresemosolov/

https://www.amazon.com/Prokofiev-Symphony-Varese-Mosolov-Foundry/dp/B00000E554

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Alexander Mosolov (11 August [O.S. 29 July] 1900 – 11 July 1973) was a composer of the early Soviet era, known best for his early futurist piano sonatas, orchestral episodes, and vocal music. Mosolov studied at the Moscow Conservatory and achieved his greatest fame in the Soviet Union and around the world for his 1926 composition, Iron Foundry. Later conflicts with Soviet authorities led to his expulsion from the Composers' Union in 1936 and imprisonment in the Gulag in 1937. His later music conformed to the Soviet aesthetic to a much greater degree, but he never regained the success of his early career.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Mosolov

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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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Edgard Varèse (December 22, 1883 – November 6, 1965) was a French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States. Varèse's music emphasizes timbre and rhythm and he coined the term "organized sound" in reference to his own musical aesthetic, posing the question, "what is music but organized noises?". Although his complete surviving works only last about three hours, he has been recognised as an influence by several major composers of the late 20th century, classical and popular music alike. Varèse was also known as the "Father of Electronic Music".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgard_Var%C3%A8se

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Riccardo Chailly (born 20 February 1953 in Milan) is an Italian conductor. He studied with Franco Ferrara and became assistant conductor to Claudio Abbado at La Scala at the age of 20. Chailly started his career as an opera conductor and gradually extended his repertoire to encompass symphonic music. He was chief conductor of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (1982-88), the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (1988-2004), and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig (2005-16). He is currently music director of La Scala (2015-) and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra (2016-). Chailly has an exclusive recording contract with Decca.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riccardo_Chailly

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