Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky / Pushkiniana

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Cat No: 8555710

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Release Date: 04 January 2003

Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 747313571024

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: PROKOFIEV

Description
Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953)Alexander NevskyFrom his first mature stage-work, the opera The Gambler(1917), it was clear that Sergey Prokofiev had an innate feel for thecinematic. On his last visit to the United States in 1938 he studied thefilm-making techniques prevalent in Hollywood film studios, intending to adaptthem to Soviet films. Back in the Soviet Union, he was able to put his ideasinto practice when Sergey Eisenstein (1898-1948) asked him to collaborate onAlexander Nevsky. Work proceeded apace, the creative affinity between composerand director ensuring that the music for each sequence was written with aminimum of pre-planning or the need for re-editing. Releasedin late 1938 this dramatization of the thirteenth-century conflict between theRussian people and Teutonic invaders struck a resounding chord in the SovietUnion at a time when war with Hitler's Germany seemed inevitable. The filmitself was acclaimed internationally as a masterpiece of cinema, and remains aclassic of the medium. In 1939, Prokofiev re-arranged the score as a cantatafor concert performance, in which form it was first performed in Moscow on 17thMay, soon establishing itself as one of the most popular choral works of thecentury. Thecantata consists of seven sections, which follow the course of the film quiteclosely:I - Russia under the Mongol YokeThe weight of oppression is vividly evoked by cuttingstrings and plangent woodwind, intentional microphone distortion on theoriginal soundtrack ensuring a suitably harsh sound. II - Song about Alexander NevskyMale voices recall the massacre of Swedish soldiers on the banksof the River Neva, and the determination of the Russian people to defend theirhomeland against foreign invaders.III - The Crusaders in PskovThe chanting of the Teutonic knights invokes their subjugationof the Russian people, underlined by dissonant brass and, in the contrastingcentral section, supplicating strings. IV - Arise, ye Russian PeopleA defiant call-to-arms as the people prepare to defend theMotherland, offset by the gentler, expressive central section of remembrance.V - The Battle on the IceAfter the frozen wastes of the coming scene of battle havebeen pointedly evoked by strings, a tramping motion in lower strings and brassdepicts approaching Teutonic hordes. The Latin chanting returns, as do a numberof motifs heard earlier in the cantata, as in the original film-score. Brassfanfares from the preceding movement mark the Russian counter-attack, and ascherzo-like section, skilfully amalgamated from disparate fragments of thefilm-score, the mounting excitement of the battle. A pile-driving march episodedepicts the Russian victory and terrible loss of life, with a closing allusionto the Nevsky Song as calm descends on the carnage. VI - The Field of DeathThe emotional heart of film and cantata, a solitary woman,mezzo-sop
Tracklisting