Prokofiev symphonies

[mahlerei]

Lordy, I'd forgotten this ol' thread. Lots of Prokofiev since then, but Kitaienko/Gürzenich seems the strongest/most consistent set; also, superb sound. Litton/Bergen extremely variable - highlight No. 5 - and Karabits does absolutely nothing for me. Sakari Oramo has done a rather fine Sixth (Ondine). And then there's Gergiev Mark 1 and 2 (with the LSO and Mariinsky respectively). Just reviewed the latter - Nos. 4 [revised version] 5, 6 & 7, coupled with piano concertos 3-5 - but as the review has yet to be published all I can say is that there are some good things there. As for Previn, I'm pretty sure I had a cassette of him and the LSO in No. 5...

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

As for Previn, I'm pretty sure I had a cassette of him and the LSO in No. 5...

As mantioned by Dave in #55, mahlerei.

There's also his later recording from Los Angeles:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000025GJF

[HighlandDougie]

And then there's Gergiev Mark 1 and 2 (with the LSO and Mariinsky respectively). Just reviewed the latter - Nos. 4 [revised version] 5, 6 & 7, coupled with piano concertos 3-5 - but as the review has yet to be published all I can say is that there are some good things there.

Hearing Gergiev perform the entire cycle with the LSO at the Edinburgh Festival in 2008 was a musical highlight for me so his set on Philips with them has always been a frustration because of the decidedly sub-fusc Barbican sound. I will much look forward to hearing the new versions (and hope that he goes on to complete the cycle). As Mahlerei says, the Kitaienko/Gürzenich is consistent, well-recorded and really pretty cheap (although it does have those damned stuck-down envelopes for the individual CDs, unlike the individual jewel cases of its earlier incarnation).

Having heard that Jurowski/LPO performance when it was broadcast, it would be great if he were either to record it or if the LPO might like to oblige us with an issue of that performance. I fear, though, that, unlike DSCH, Prokofiev is a bit of a hard sell for record companies, other than for the 5th, maybe the 6th and, of course, the 1st.

[Madame Suggia]

I've got the Rozhdestvensky recordings.

I've heard the Karabits and I think there are good things in Leinsdorf's incomplete set. You can hear it on spotify.

[mahlerei]

As mantioned by Dave in #55, mahlerei.

Indeed he did. Apologies, to Dave2002.

HD

Yes, the pesky Barbican acoustic is a problem in that Philips set. Decent performances, less erratic than VG today I feel.

PS: If there's still some life in this thread would it be a good idea to move it to Record Review? No idea why I put the original post here...

[BBMmk2]

Has the Neeme Jarvi cycle been discussed? Not knowing other cycles, that might be worth acquiring?

[mahlerei]

Has the Neeme Jarvi cycle been discussed? Not knowing other cycles, that might be worth acquiring?

Bbm

Mixed views on that one, I suspect. I haven't played mine in ages. That said, I reckon NJ's Alexander Nevsky is one of the best things he's ever done. Now that's a disc I do play from time to time.

[BBMmk2]

Bbm

Mixed views on that one, I suspect. I haven't played mine in ages. That said, I reckon NJ's Alexander Nevsky is one of the best things he's ever done. Now that's a disc I do play from time to time.

Hiya Mahlerie! Thanks, I will order it! Anyother symphony cycles? I don't mind fill-ups

[mahlerei]

Hiya Mahlerie! Thanks, I will order it! Anyother symphony cycles? I don't mind fill-ups

Bbm

You can't go wrong with Kitaienko. Cheap as chips, too:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00U0S0LB0?keywords=kitajenko%20prokofiev&qid=1454963265&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

[Alison]

I really wanted to like the Karabits recordings but I find the orchestral sound small and thin of tone.

[cloughie]

I really wanted to like the Karabits recordings but I find the orchestral sound small and thin of tone.

Alison, interesting point apropos of not a lot - Uncle Bernie appears to have only Prokofiev recording - Peter and the Wolf! Obviously as with Sibelius his candle was not lit there.

[Alison]

I did go to a sensational account of the Fifth with the LPO in the mid nineties. And there was the Glyndebourne Love of Three Oranges. But yes you are right in the main.

[jayne lee wilson]

Very surprised at the comments here, from Mahlerei and Alison, about the Karabits/BSO cycle. In their 24/96 guise, I found the Onyx albums with 3 and 7, 4 (1930) and 5; and the last one in 16/44.1 of the 1947 4th and the 6th, very rewarding musically; subtly renewing and expressive, ideal to live with precisely because, whilst immediately appealing (I laughed in delight as the original 4th got into its bouncy stride), they give up their secrets gradually. Careful studio recordings in the old style!
But I loved them sonically too, because of their fullness, warmth, detail and dynamism. Yes, they were set fairly close, but they didn't sound airless or lacking three-dimensionality. For the record, I played them in Audirvana+ 2.3.3 or the more analytical JRMC 19, via filtered & regenerated USB to the usual T&A Dac 8.

David Gutman has always been (with a few caveats) very welcoming to the Karabits recordings in Gramophone (6/2014, 1/2015, 9/2015, 12/2015). - I presume he was reviewing the CDs.
He wasn't too impressed by the new Gergiev - "as is sometimes the case with this overworked team, a potentially revelatory rethink is compromised by pockets of neutral, weary-sounding playing" (Gramophone 2/2016). But as I usually feel about Gergiev the way Mahlerei sems to about Karabits.... this discouragement was welcome.

I was very impressed by Kitajenko at first, on the gorgeously-presented Phoenix edition (some of the loveliest artwork I've ever seen). It's - technically at least - a fine cycle. But as I've returned to them, I've found them lacking in local colour and texture, the personalising phrase and shape, to individualise each work. They sound a little too smooth and statuesque, and interpretively rather uniform to me now. The Bournemouth Symphony/ Karabits/Onyx recordings are provincial in the best sense!

(Comparing the first movements of the 1930 4th in Kitajenko and Karabits is almost shocking: Kitajenko is too smooth and generalised in the intro - (you can hardly hear the flute or the other wind solos), then seems to be trying to crush the listener with the RollsRoyce power of his Cologne Orchestra. (In fact he plays the 1930 4th in a style more apt to the overblown, overblasted 1947 version). Karabits is intimate, tenderly expressive in the intro, with lovely warm wind solos; then far wittier and more rhythmical, brilliantly pointed as the allegro gets going - and it really does get going, with a cartoonish range of colour and character later on. Just as funny and charming as could be - I did think Gutman, for all his tempered praise, underestimated this marvellously idiomatic reading. Seems he's not the only one ..)

[Dave2002]

As mantioned by Dave in #55, mahlerei.

There's also his later recording from Los Angeles:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000025GJF

I didn't know Previn had done number 5 with the LA orchestra as well. Is that any good?
I rather like the Prokofiev he did with the LSO, though perhaps that's just due to some familiarity. Thanks for pointing it out.

[Stanfordian]

I didn't know Previn had done number 5 with the LA orchestra as well. Is that any good?
I rather like the Prokofiev he did with the LSO, though perhaps that's just due to some familiarity. Thanks for pointing it out.

Hiya Dave,

I make it a rule that virtually everything conducted by Previn is worth of attention. I have the same rule for Abbado, Haitink and Chailly.