Sergei Prokofiev - Symphonies Nos. 4 & 7 (Andrew Litton)

Information

Composer: Sergei Prokofiev

• (01) Symphony No. 4 in C major, Op. 112 (revised version, 1947)
• (05) Symphony No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 131

Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra

Andrew Litton, conductor

Date: 2016

Label: BIS
https://bis.se/label/bis/prokofiev-symphonies-no-4-7

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review

Is Valery Gergiev unchallengeable in this repertoire? He may be at something like his best in his recent Mariinsky remakes but if you’re looking for a sonically state-of-the-art option for home listening, Andrew Litton’s latest disc arguably trumps them all. A consistently underrated maestro, he gets great results from the orchestra of which he is now conductor laureate after more than a decade at the helm.

Gone are the days when Western commentators would condemn the Fourth’s Soviet-era recasting as an ideologically motivated distortion of Prokofiev’s leaner original. Paradoxically it was Adrian Boult who directed what seems to have been the world premiere of the 1947 edition in a BBC broadcast. By 1950 the composer was getting few performances at home as a consequence of the renewed cultural clampdown of Stalin’s last years. Like Marin Alsop, Litton has conducted this later, grander version extensively in concert, not least a fine rendition at the BBC Proms in 2011. Both Americans shape its discourse with an assurance not readily obtained in rehearse-record sessions. Alsop’s softer, string-dominated sonorities work surprisingly well. However, it is Litton, helped by superior sound engineering, who allows detail to register more cleanly. More important, he makes the piece sound purposefully ‘symphonic’ and, in music twice refashioned by the composer over a 20 year period, that counts for a good deal. Any minor agogic hesitations are perfectly calibrated to make the argument seem much more than a would-be heroic gloss on Parisian source material.

Kirill Karabits is probably Litton’s most potent rival in the Seventh, given that Gergiev’s massively long-breathed conception takes the music into territory you may or may not wish to explore. While all three interpretations are very fine (Alsop’s recording has yet to emerge), the BIS team obtain a more consistently natural, brighter balance from Bergen’s Grieg Hall. We are also invited to explore alternative finales: a ninth track offers the Vivace with the happy ending Prokofiev appended in the hope of wowing the commissars. Long heard with final flourish intact, the symphony is now more usually played as originally conceived, reflecting the composer’s wishes as conveyed to Mstislav Rostropovich. Yes, track 8’s downbeat conclusion is far more affecting, but it is thought-provoking to have a concrete manifestation of the impact of totalitarianism on a supposedly abstract art form.

-- David Gutman, Gramophone

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

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2016/dec/Prokofiev_sys47_BIS2134.htm

https://artmusiclounge.wordpress.com/2016/08/19/littons-prokofiev-structured-yet-exciting/

https://www.amazon.com/Prokofiev-Symphonies-Nos-4-7/dp/B01HUFN7I4

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

***

Andrew Litton (born May 16, 1959, New York City) is an American conductor. Litton is a graduate of The Fieldston School, and holds both undergraduate and Masters degrees in music from Juilliard. He served as music director and principal conductor of Bournemouth Symphony (1988-1994), Dallas Symphony (1994-2006), Bergen Philharmonic (2003-2015), Colorado Symphony (2013-2016) and New York City Ballet (2015-2016). Litton's recordings include a Grammy-winning Walton's Belshazzar's Feast. Under Litton, the Dallas Symphony became the first major orchestra to broadcast a live concert via the Internet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Litton

http://www.andrewlitton.com/bio/index.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!