Ivan Terrible

The famous Russian director Sergei Eisenstein held Prokofiev the film composer in the highest regard, and to couple their two celebrated collaborations, Ivan the Terrible and Alexander Nevsky, in a two-disc set is therefore entirely appropriate. Ivan the Terrible, however, is a problematic score. Assembled by Abram Stassevich after the composer’s death, the oratorio lacks the large-scale balances and tensions of Prokofiev’s own Nevsky cantata, relying on narration to hold the structure together. This substantial English version by Michael Lankester, intended to ‘compensate for the lack of visual image’, is well projected by Christopher Plummer. Rostropovich directs a vivid performance of Alexander Nevsky, and only the rich tone of Russian voices is lacking. The LSO plays brilliantly, while the recording does full justice to one of Prokofiev’s finest scores.

Ivan le Terrible / Ivan the Terrible - (Vello Pahn, Nicolas Le Riche, Karl Paquette, Eleonora Abbagnato) (2004) [Repost]

Nicolas Le Riche, Karl Paquette, and Eleonora Abbagnato star in this Paris Opera Ballet production of the Prokofiev ballet choreographed by Yuri Grigorovich. Oone of the most fascinating choreographies to have emerged from Russia during the last decades: Yuri Grigorovich's original ballet dramatizing Ivan the Terrible's reign as Czar of Russia…

Prokofiev's score for Ivan the Terrible is some of the best film music ever written, fusing the composer's melodic gifts, his salty version of high-romantic orchestration, his love of grand church chants and thrilling marches. Despite the lack of Eisenstein's visuals, this powerful recording captures much of the film's epic grandeur, with Polyansky drawing some massive climaxes and breathtaking moments of intimacy from his forces.