This is the third volume in Marin Alsop’s Prokofiev symphony cycle –
though it was actually the second to be issued, I think. I was impressed by
the recording of the Fifth Symphony, which began the series (
review) though when I heard it subsequently in BD-A
format I wasn’t convinced that the improvement in sound quality was
sufficient to justify the extra outlay (
review). I had no such reservations about the BD-A
pairing of the first two symphonies, however; artistically I rated it
another success while the sound itself is superb in BD-A format (
review). Now I’m reverting to conventional CD format
for the Fourth Symphony.
There are two versions of the Fourth Symphony. Prokofiev originally wrote
it in 1929, drawing on music that he’d written for the ballet
L’enfant
prodigue (The Prodigal Son). That version of the symphony, commissioned
for the 50
th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which
fell in 1930, and premièred by the orchestra and Koussevitzky, was published
as Op 47. In 1947 Prokofiev revised the score substantially, expanding the
orchestration and lengthening the score considerably; it’s this later
version, Op 112. that Marin Alsop has chosen to record.
She’s coupled the symphony recording with an account of the ballet score
on which it was based and this, I think, was an inspired decision. The
ballet is in three scenes and here Naxos very helpfully split the recording
up into ten different tracks. Apart from making the action easier to follow
this tracking has the merit that if you so wish when you’ve listened to a
movement of the symphony you can skip, as I did once, to the relevant track
in the ballet to hear the music in its original context. Keith Anderson’s
notes are good and are particularly useful in outlining on which section of
the ballet each symphonic movement was based. Incidentally, I see that the
recording sessions for the ballet took place before those for the symphony.
I wonder if there was any significance in that and, indeed, whether it’s
preferable for the listener to approach the ballet or the symphony
first.
The symphony has four movements. The first has a fairly substantial
introduction after which the main body of the movement has the unusual
marking Allegro eroico. This fast music is based on material from the
‘Meeting friends’ section of the ballet (track 6); it’s played in a lively
fashion by the Brazilian orchestra who also do the lyrical sections very
nicely. Marin Alsop drives the quick passages along urgently and she ensures
that the climaxes are delivered powerfully. There follows a slow movement
which is based on the concluding part of the ballet where the Prodigal Son
returns home (track 14). This is in Prokofiev’s very typical lyrical vein
with some long, soaring lines in the strings. It’s very well played
here.
The shortest movement is the third for which Prokofiev drew on material
he’d composed to illustrate The Seductress in the ballet (track 7). This
music portrays the lady in question as worldly-wise. It’s piquant stiff
though I don’t readily discern much evidence of symphonic development. The
present performance is strongly characterised. The finale uses material from
the first scene of the ballet though there’s a jaunty, almost tipsy march
episode (track 4 from 3:33) which I don’t recognise as being from
L’enfant prodigue – though that may be due to a lack of awareness
on my part. This march features some tangy work by the woodwinds and
subsequently oily trumpets are to the fore. The
Allegro risoluto
with which the movement began is then reprised and it’s sharply delivered by
Alsop and her team. The conclusion of the movement revisits material from
the introduction to the first movement. Marin Alsop makes out a strong case
for this work and I enjoyed the experience of listening to it. That said,
though it’s an interesting score I don’t think it’s quite top-drawer
Prokofiev and the score doesn’t scale the heights of the Fifth and Sixth
symphonies.
L’enfant prodigue is the fourth and last ballet that Prokofiev
penned for Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes. The scenario depicts the
Prodigal Son taking his share of his inheritance and heading off into the
world to seek – or, rather, to squander – his fortune. Early on in his
travels he runs into some of his friends (track 6). To judge by the music
they seem to have been a pretty bawdy bunch. There’s some acute, colourful
playing hereabouts and I admired the precision of the São Paulo orchestra
both here and later on in the ‘Drunkenness’ portion of the score (track 10).
The musicians relish the music that depicts the temptress (track 7) and in
the following section, ‘The Dancers’, there’s some heavily accented, angular
music which the orchestra projects strongly (track 8). There’s some unusual
and very effective writing for a trio of clarinets, one of them a bass
clarinet, at the start of ‘The despoiling’ (track 11) and the São Paulo
clarinet section really justifies having the spotlight shone on them. The
extended last section, ‘The return’ (track 14) is closely linked to the slow
movement of the symphony. Prokofiev here illustrates the compassion and
clemency of the Son’s father in a fitting manner as the ballet achieves a
tranquil, reassuring end.
My verdict on
L’enfant prodigue is similar to my view of the
Fourth Symphony. It’s an interesting score and because it’s illustrative
music for the theatre there’s a strong case for saying that, as a
composition, it works rather better than does its symphonic transformation –
or alter ego. Yet, as a ballet composer, Prokofiev was to achieve so much
more in the future with
Cinderella and, above all, with
Romeo
and Juliet. Nonetheless, it’s an important score in terms of
Prokofiev’s development and it’s very good to have it here in such a telling
performance.
With very good sound and useful notes this is another welcome instalment
in the Alsop Prokofiev cycle. I’m eager to hear her in the last two
symphonies.
John Quinn
Previous review:
Leslie Wright
