Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 & Ala et Lolly (Scythian Suite)

This would be the 2nd CD that I have purchased which was performed by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Odd location for such a talented group of musicians. But, despite the fact that there is a general snobbery that suggests NY, LA or London provide THE symphony orchestras, this is an excellent CD.

Sir Simon Rattle conducts a wonderful jaunt through Prokofiev's 5th symphony, his most popular. In the midst of WWII, Prokofiev penned this symphony which is surprisingly upbeat, considering the time of composition; it has moments of intensity, but, for the most part, is light-hearted and "sunny" with the woodwinds and strings carrying the majority of the workload. The 3rd movement, the adagio, is beautiful, soft and sultry, with the double basses and cellos providing a somber but lovely backdrop for the string serenade that is the main theme of the movement. The final movment, an allegro, is equally impressive as the adagio only slightly more upbeat with horns softly backing the strings and their continued carrying of the main theme of the entire piece. It is no wonder that this was/is Prokofiev's most popular symphony; not to discredit from his other offerings in that category.

Ala and Lolly, also known as the Sycthian Suite (so named after the people of Scythia, a nomadic folk from western Eurasia, dating back to the 8th century B.C.), was originally titled "Ala i Lolli" and the original intent of the piece was for it to be a ballet but it was rejected as such. Undeterred, Prokofiev reworked the piece as a suite; the Scythian Suite, as it came to be known. It was written for an enlarged orchestra and consists of 4 movements; it is very much like a symphony in this regard, but, I would describe it as a tone poem although I don't think that it has been classified as such. The entire piece is about the barbaric Scythians, (1st mvmnt) their worship of the sun, (2nd) their sacrifices to their god, (3rd) the power of an evil god and the consolations of the spirits of the moon, and (4th) a battle victory followed by a sunrise.
Sir Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra masterfully take us through the Suite. The 1st and 2nd are bombastic and amazing, evoking (if not honoring), in my humble opinion, a combination of the percussion laced bombast of Respighi's 1st movement from Roman Festivals (Circus Maximus) with influences from Rimsky-Korsakov (no surprise as Prokofiev was a student of Rimsky-Korsakov at the St. Petersburg Conservatory) and Grieg. The piece quiets toward the middle of the 1st movement, but the strings still play strong, deep, chords that are dark and ominous and continue through the 2nd. The 3rd is dark yet light, heavily undertoned whilst also whimsical, with deep horns and strings supporting woodwinds and harp; the movement is titled Night and the title is quite appropriate. The final movement returns to a slightly softer bombast; a celebration of the entire orchestra, each section combining in moments of bravado before breaks for individual focus on the woods, the strings, the brass and, momentarily, percussion. It is an amazing work that was composed early in Prokofiev's career, around 1915, when he was 24 years old; a sign of the great things to come from the prodigy's mind.

Prokofiev began composing around the age of 5 and wrote his first opera at 9. He was a proficient chess player by the age of 7; a genius, to say the least. After ups and downs in his studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, he began to pursue piano and conducting and eventually earned accolades for his forward looking compositional style.
Prokofiev was far from a Russian composer. His music transcends the stereotypical Russian sound of his contemporaries such as Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov or Tchaikovsky (of whom I love all, so I am not saying Prokofiev is better, just different); there IS a Russian "feel" to some of the works, but Prokofiev was an innovator and moved beyond the music of his homeland to a sound that was, well, purely his.

The combination of these 2 compositions on one disc creates a very interesting paradoxical look at young versus old, student and master, as his Scythian Suite was an early work and his 5th Symphony came toward the end of his career. He suffered a fall shortly after the completion of his 5th Symphony and it is debated that he never truly regained his "luster" after that fall; I heartily disagree, for what it's worth.

This is a fine CD, with excellent recording, passionate performance and wonderful mixing. There is no noticeable background noise and EMI should be proud of what they have produced in this "budget" CD; especially in the past few years, budget does not mean bad; they keep getting better (with a few misses). And EMI is one of the pioneers and continued champions of affordable classical music CD's

I highly recommend this CD for anyone that may be new to Prokofiev as, like I state above, this is a glimpse at early and late Sergei. And the CD is high quality.

Buy with confidence!

This CD, a reissue from a deleted 1993 original, finds Rattle in a revelatory mood. I've heard nothing better from him, and given the semi-warhorse status of the Prokofiev Fifth Sym., his insights are all the more welcome. Ordinarily there's a ceiling of interpretation for almost any Prokofiev work. A good conductor can always get an audience excited, but below the surface there's not much to dive into. Rattle dispels that notion completely. This Fifth sounds more alive, intelligent, and moving than before. He finds more variety than Karajan, more tenderness than Bernstein, more heart (much more) than Szell.

It's a matter of Rattle's instinct for shaping phrases, finding climaxes that peak at just the right time, avoiding cheap thrills and bombast (always a temptation with flashy Mr. P.) He imparts to Prokofiev the dignity Shostakovich receives routinely. The garish Scythian Suite, which defies even Bernstien to find expression beneath the pseudo-barbaric thumping, turns into something fresh and alive in Rattle's hands. His Brimingham musicians play with total devotion, and EMI's engineering is clear and sonically inviting.

You hardly expect decent Prokofiev from British conductors, much less a recording this masterful. It rises to the very top of my list.

This is the best recording of Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5 I've heard in years. As one commenter said, Rattle has plenty fresh to say about a magnificent warhorse.

The sound on this re-release in EMI's "Encore" series, however, is dreadful. It sounds as if the mikes were very high above the orchestra and too far back--a typical engineering job by Mike Clements in the 1990s. As a result, once you set loud passages where you want them, soft passages sound 1/4-mile away. Dynamic impact is severely limited--my equalizer had no registrations at all in many passages. Violins are strictly confined to the left channel. When movements end with a bang, there is no hall resonance at all. This album sounds like it was recorded in an utterly dry studio rather than in one of England's best halls. Whether this is just the result of Clements' engineering or whether it's the fault of this particular pressing, I can't tell. But I'm eager to find the same performance in a different release, hoping the sound improves.

The engineering and production is the medium between the artist and the listener. What a waste that gets in the way, making appreciation of a truly great performance so unrewarding.