Prokofiev

Kiril Kondrashin was perhaps the greatest conductor to emerge from the Soviet Union. Trained at the Moscow Conervatory, he led most of the Soviet Union's great orchestras although he is most well-known for his stints at the Bolshoi Theater and as principal conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra from 1960 to 1976. He defected to the west in 1979 during a tour in Holland. He was immediately named a principal conductor alongside Bernard Haitink to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
This massive six-disc compilation covers some of the best of Kondrashin's work while behind the iron curtain. It includes no less than four of Prokofiev's major works: the First and Third Piano Concertos, the Second Violin Concerto, and the October Cantata, Op. 74, a work for which he gave the original premiere performance in 1966.

This album of works by Debussy, Prokofiev and Barber aims to show not only the fascination of the increasing complexity of musical language in the 20th century but also the desire to preserve the ideas and achievements of previous musical epochs. The expansion of tonality and the search for new rhythmic and acoustic solutions in the first book of Debussy’s Préludes are followed by Prokofiev’s Visions fugitives , perhaps his only work that was clearly influenced by Impressionism. Some pieces from Visions fugitives could seem to be part of Debussy’s cycle, although Prokofiev’s famous Feroce offers electrifying rhythms and sharp dissonances. I have chosen Barber’s Piano Sonata as my final work. This unique masterpiece literally sprouted from the soil of 20th century musical discoveries but still retained Baroque and Classical structures. The stunning fugue that concludes the sonata sounds like a manifesto: no matter how far the creative process takes us, there is always something constant to which we will always return.

The hype machine wants us to love the stars it promotes, which has a backlash effect. I'm not sure many serious listeners would rank Joshua Bell as a first-class musician, given his glamorous popular image. But he's up to everything Prokofiev throws at the soloist in his two violin concertos and two sonatas. This bargain two-fer can stand up to any rival, including Oistrakh and Perlman. I'm only sorry I overlooked it for so long.

This new release features the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sakari Oramo performing Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6. These two symphonies, composed in 1944 and 1947, are very different in mood, but stylistically closely related. The Fifth was written amid the chaos of the Second World War and seeks to find a positive solution; but in the Sixth, completed soon after war, the mood is darker. Both feature Prokofiev’s melodic writing at its best.