Sergei Prokofiev Podcasts
Russian and Soviet pianist, composer and conductor
5
- piano
- opera, symphony, ballet, classical music
- Russian Empire, Soviet Union
- composer, pianist, conductor, choreographer, musicologist, film score composer, author, librettist
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2024-04-24
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Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast
There has always been a debate about “The Great American Symphony.” By the time most prominent American composers got around to writing large scale symphonic works, the symphony had very nearly gone out of fashion. To many musicians and thinkers, the symphony had passed on with the death of Mahler. With the advent of atonality, which essentially destroyed the developmental structure that symphonies rested on, there seemed to be nowhere for the symphonic genre to go. The traditional udnerstanding is that composers like Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and Sibelius, among others, picked the symphony back up from its deathbed and resurrected it. But there was a generation of American composers also writing symphonies around this time, and many of them have never quite gotten the consideration they deserve. Ives wrote 4 brilliant symphonies, Bernstein wrote 3 ambitious symphonies, there are the symphonies by the first generation of Black American composers, namely William Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony, and then there are much less known symphonies by composers like Roy Harris, which were huge successes at the time of their premiers, but which have faded into obscurity. Despite many strong efforts, very few American symphonies have made their way into the standard “canon.” That is, except for one: Copland’s 3rd Symphony, which is almost certainly the most played American symphony. It was written as World War II was coming to an end, and it is one of Copland’s most ardent and life-affirming works. Naturally, connections were made to the Allied triumph in World War II, but Copland insisted that the symphony wasn’t a reflection of the era, writing: "if I forced myself, I could invent an ideological basis for the Third Symphony. But if I did, I'd be bluffing—or at any rate, adding something ex post facto, something that might or might not be true but that played no role at the moment of creation." Whatever the inspiration, this symphony has become one of Copland’s most enduring works, even though it is also in many ways one of his most complex. It is a massive work, nearly 40 minutes in length, and it requires a huge and virtuosic orchestra. It also features some of Copland’s most recognizable tunes, including of course, the Fanfare for the Common Man, which permeates the symphony and is in many ways its central theme. So today, on this Patreon Sponsored episode, we’ll dig deep into this symphony, mapping out its unusual form, and savoring the energy, optimism, and creativity with which Copland attacked the well-worn genre of the symphony. Join us!
SOMM RECORDINGS announces the first volume of Prokofiev Milestones, featuring three characterful sonatas and a sparkling arrangement of music from Romeo and Juliet performed by violinist Lana Trotovšek and flutist Boris Bizjak accompanied by Maria Canyigueral on piano.Prokofiev Milestones revealingly turns the focus away from the prolific composer’s famed orchestral works and celebrated ballets to his rich and varied chamber music.First performed in 1943, the Sonata for Flute and Piano (Op.94) is, as Robert Matthew-Walker comments in his notes, “music not of war, but of peace”; a pastoral escape laced with wit and mischief vouchsafed within a pristine neo-classical frame.It is heard again, transformed, in Prokofiev’s transcription for Violin and Piano (Op.94a). Composed soon after, it lays claim to being “one of the finest 20th-century works in the genre and a genuine masterpiece”.The Sonata for Two Violins (Op.56) is heard in a new arrangement by Boris Bizjak that eloquently makes much of its sentimentality, drama, and vitality.A characterful suite drawn from Romeo and Juliet, and arranged for violin and piano by Lidia Baich and Matthias Fletzberger, revels in Shakespeare’s great romance and Prokofiev’s ardent response to it.TracksSonata for Flute and Piano in D Major, Op. 94 (24:15) I. Moderato (8:06) II. Scherzo: Presto (5:09) III. Andante (3:49) IV. Allegro con brio (7:10) Sonata for Two Violins in C Major, Op. 56 (arr. Boris Bizjak for flute and violin) (14:40) I. Andante cantabile (2:22) II. Allegro (3:15) III. Commodo (quasi allegro) (3:32) IV. Allegro con brio (5:29) Suite from Romeo and Juliet (arr. Lidia Baich and Matthias Fletzberger for violin and piano) (15:45) I. Introduction (1:29) II. Juliet (1:31) III. Dance of the Knights (3:03) IV. Balcony Scene (4:47) V. Dance of the Couples (1:27) VI. Mercutio – Fight – Tybalt’s Death (3:25) Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano in D Major, Op. 94a (24:35)* I. Moderato (7:52) II. Scherzo: Presto (5:13) III. Andante (4:14) IV. Allegro con brio (7:14) Help support our show by purchasing this album at:Downloads (classicalmusicdiscoveries.store) Classical Music Discoveries is sponsored by Uber. @CMDHedgecock#ClassicalMusicDiscoveries #KeepClassicalMusicAlive#CMDGrandOperaCompanyofVenice #CMDParisPhilharmonicinOrléans#CMDGermanOperaCompanyofBerlin#CMDGrandOperaCompanyofBarcelonaSpain#ClassicalMusicLivesOn#Uber#AppleClassical Please consider supporting our show, thank you!Donate (classicalmusicdiscoveries.store) [email protected] This album is broadcast with the permission of Sean Dacy from Rosebrook Media.
For the first time, four classic Prokofiev recordings by towering virtuoso Sviatoslav Richter are available, newly remastered by Paul Arden-Taylor.TracksPiano Sonata No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 14 I. Allegro ma non troppo (6:13) II. Scherzo: Allegro marcato (1:47) III. Andante (4:58) IV. Vivace – Moderato – Vivace (4:17) Piano Sonata No. 9 in C Major, Op. 103 I. Allegretto (7:38) II. Allegro strepitozo (2:54) III. Andante tranquillo (8:28) IV. Allegro con brio ma non troppo presto (5:19) Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-Flat Major, Op. 10 I. Allegro brioso (6:32) II. Andante assai (3:27) III. Allegro scherzando (4:02) Piano Concerto No. 5 in G Major, Op. 55 I. Allegro con brio (5:03) II. Moderato ben accentuato (4:01) III. Toccata (1:54) IV. Larghetto (6:42) V. Vivo (5:04) Help support our show by purchasing this album at:Downloads (classicalmusicdiscoveries.store) Classical Music Discoveries is sponsored by Uber. @CMDHedgecock#ClassicalMusicDiscoveries #KeepClassicalMusicAlive#CMDGrandOperaCompanyofVenice #CMDParisPhilharmonicinOrléans#CMDGermanOperaCompanyofBerlin#CMDGrandOperaCompanyofBarcelonaSpain#ClassicalMusicLivesOn#Uber#AppleClassical Please consider supporting our show, thank you!Donate (classicalmusicdiscoveries.store) [email protected] album is broadcast with the permission of Sean Dacy from Rosebrook Media.
17th-21st CenturiesThis week we hear works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Dmitry Kabalevsky, Giuseppe Tartini, Fritz Kreisler, Franz Liszt, Camille Saint-Saëns, Eugen d’Albert, Gustav Mahler, Hamish MacCunn, Henry Kimball Hadley, Sergei Prokofiev, Béla Bartók, Aulis Sallinen, and Thomas Adès.199 Minutes – Week of 2023 October 23
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- timeline: Composers (Europe). Conductors (Europe). Performers (Europe).
- Indexes (by alphabetical order): P...