Prokofiev

Pianists Martha Argerich and Sergei Babayan have recorded two selections from Prokofiev’s music for stage and screen in magnificent two-piano transcriptions by Babayan. Prokofiev for Two, set for release worldwide March 23 via Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music Canada, the country’s leading music company, captures for posterity the sense of mutual inspiration felt by these kindred spirits, palpable in their live performances together.

Quatuor Danel, internationally celebrated for their interpretations of Shostakovich and Weinberg, present Sergei Prokofiev's rarely heard string quartets in a stunning new recording.

Quatuor Danel present Sergei Prokofiev’s rarely heard string quartets in a stunning new recording. Prokofiev composed only two quartets, yet these works reveal his genius in crafting masterpieces within a genre he rarely explored.

Quatuor Danel, internationally celebrated for their interpretations of Shostakovich and Weinberg, present Sergei Prokofiev's rarely heard string quartets in a stunning new recording.

Quatuor Danel present Sergei Prokofiev’s rarely heard string quartets in a stunning new recording. Prokofiev composed only two quartets, yet these works reveal his genius in crafting masterpieces within a genre he rarely explored.

It should come as no surprise that Gergiev is in his element in Prokofiev's symphonies. Whatever his failings in other repertory, he's always had a knack for visceral excitement in Russian music, sometimes at the expense of lyric or lighter moments. And so it is here. Gergiev is a bit heavy-handed in the popular Classical Symphony, Prokofiev's homage to Haydn and Mozart. But he delivers high-octane power in the three steel-age symphonies that follow (the set is especially notable for the inclusion of both versions of the Fourth).

Sergei Prokofiev is a prominent figure in music history and one of the most talked-about composers of his time. As the protagonist of a new era, he mixed up the international music scene in the first decades of the 20th century. Prokofiev, who had at first violently attacked the musical traditions of Romanticism and created works that "could not be removed from the world" (as H. C. Schonberg formulated it), later became almost a romantic". This development can be traced by listening to the 14 original albums from the years 1954 to 1961 on this documentation. It includes all of his piano-, violin- and cello-concertos, as well as his complete piano sonatas - a genre that the composer studied for over forty years - as well as the five most important symphonies, including his world-famous "Classic" (Fricsay 1954) and the extraordinarily popular Symphony No. 5 under George Szell from 1959.