Prokofiev 'Other' Symphonies

[BBMmk2]

Thank you, as ever, JLW. what would we do without you! That's one way of looking at No.7. I will do that next time I have it on! Many thanks.

[gurnemanz]

Thank you, as ever, JLW. what would we do without you! That's one way of looking at No.7. I will do that next time I have it on! Many thanks.

I'll second that.

[Petrushka]

Wonderful writing as always JLW. You've been away much too long! Your post does what all good writing on music should do, namely make you want to hear the music with different ears. You are even persuading me to want to listen to No 2 again, something I wouldn't have thought possible.

[antongould]

Wonderful writing as always JLW. You've been away much too long! Your post does what all good writing on music should do, namely make you want to hear the music with different ears. You are even persuading me to want to listen to No 2 again, something I wouldn't have thought possible.

I very much agree - wonderful JLW .....

[ahinton]

I very much agree - wonderful JLW .....

Thirded - or fifthed, or however many it is!

[Dave2002]

Listening with other people

My attempts to listen to symphony number 2 are showing up another potential snag. If I listen to something which some others may consider to be unpleasant I am made aware of the effect it has pretty quickly, and asked/forced to switch it off. Some music does present barriers which may be slightly challenging for one listener to overcome, though in time that may be possible. If other people are also involved, perhaps involuntarily, then overcoming difficulties and becoming familiar with new pieces can become considerably harder.

[EdgeleyRob]

How we've missed you JLW

[BBMmk2]

I expect our esteemed member JLW, has a firm favourite of this symphony. I heard the Gergiev/Mariinsky yesterday, wither views in mind and that has changed my perception of No.7.

[Dave2002]

I listened to 2, 3 and 4 yesterday from the Maryinsky with Gergiev (Youtube) plus also the first movement of 2 by Neeme Järvi. I still didn't like them much, but I'll try again. I think I prefer Järvi's number 2 to Gergiev, but it's early days yet. Of the three, I felt that number 4 was the most palatable, but I'm willing to have one or a few more tries.

I detect that one of us is now warming more to number 7, which I have liked for quite a while. I need to check out number 6 again - though I think it is quite similar to 7 in some ways IIRC.

[Sir Velo]

I need to check out number 6 again - though I think it is quite similar to 7 in some ways IIRC.

I think you may not RC.

[Richard Barrett]

a century later, an inspiration to Mr. R. Barrett too...

This is true, though not really through the music associated with it, since I know so little of that repertoire. There must be some other interesting sides to it, apart from Prokofiev 2 and a couple of noisily picturesque tone-poems. Did Prokofiev himself write anything else in that general style? Are there any other such orchestral pieces by other composers of the time and place which aren't just relentless and ham-fisted?

Maybe those put off by the insistent quality of the first movement of no.2 (which is after all nothing compared to the roughly contemporaneous Amériques) should just skip to the second movement rather than giving up on it...

[antongould]

We have, have we not, a treasure trove ..... listening this evening to the von Karajan Berlin Phil Prokofiev 1 & 5 .... I was minded to write on Prokofiev in the Composer thread but he - like Finzi - seems to have failed the entrance exam. So I search and find this wondrous thread which tells me to get out into ProkofievLand more - which I will - but is just one of the many, many threads of wonder we have. It also contains the return of JLW ..... which was good ...

[DublinJimbo]

Of the 'others', no. 7 is by far my favourite. In particular, the recent recording by James Gaffigan and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic would win anyone over.

[BBMmk2]

No.7, for me, I do not like. Very conservative to my ears.