Prokofiev: Symphonies Nos. 1-3 Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra & Andrew Litton

• Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953): Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Op. 25 "Classical":
• 1 Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Op. 25 "Classical": I. Allegro 04:19
• 2 Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Op. 25 "Classical": II. Larghetto 03:57
• 3 Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Op. 25 "Classical": III. Gavotte. Non troppo allegro 01:36
• 4 Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Op. 25 "Classical": IV. Finale. Molto vivace 04:20
• Symphony No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 40:
• 5 Symphony No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 40: I. Allegro ben articulato 12:09
• 6 Symphony No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 40: IIa. Theme 01:51
• 7 Symphony No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 40: IIb. Var. 1 02:08
• 8 Symphony No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 40: IIc. Var. 2 02:50
• 9 Symphony No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 40: IId. Var. 3 02:11
• 10 Symphony No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 40: IIe. Var. 4 05:25
• 11 Symphony No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 40: IIf. Var. 5 02:47
• 12 Symphony No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 40: IIf. Var. 6 - Theme 07:05
• Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 44:
• 13 Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 44: I. Moderato 13:53
• 14 Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 44: II. Andante 07:04
• 15 Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 44: III. Allegro agitato 08:17
• 16 Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 44: IV. Andante mosso - Allegro agitato 06:35
• Total Runtime 01:26:27

Info for Prokofiev: Symphonies Nos. 1-3

As a composer Sergei Prokofiev was so versatile that audiences never quite knew what to expect. As a strategy, this could misfire but with his first symphony he got things just right. He once described what he had wanted to achieve: ‘If Haydn had lived into this era he would have kept his own style while absorbing things from what was new in music.’ The ‘Classical’ symphony has been a true classic since its first performance in 1918 and is one of the few genuinely witty pieces in the twentieth-century orchestral repertory.

A few months after the performance, Prokofiev left Russia for the USA where he remained for some years before settling in Paris in 1923. It was here that he composed the Second Symphony. The first audience in 1925 was more bewildered than enthusiastic, however, and Prokofiev himself came to have doubts, wondering whether in this symphony ‘made out of iron and steel’ he’d overdone the rough counterpoint and density of texture. He now returned to a project he had been working on for several years – the opera The Fiery Angel. In 1928, when he began to think that no opera house would take it up, Prokofiev decided to reuse the music and found that ‘the material unexpectedly packed itself up into a four-movement symphony’ – his Third, characterised by an overwhelming sense of anxiety and tension. The present disc is the fourth and last in a symphony cycle which has earned the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Litton critical acclaim worldwide.

Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Andrew Litton, conductor

No biography found.

Booklet for Prokofiev: Symphonies Nos. 1-3