Release Date: 12 January 1999
Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 636943427026
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: PROKOFIEV
Description
Sergey Prokofiev(1891-1953)Piano Sonatas Vol. 2Nos. l, 3 and 4; TenPieces from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 75Sergey Prokofiev was born in 1891 at Sontsovka in Ukraine, the son of aprosperous estate manager. An only child, his musical talents were fostered byhis mother, a cultured amateur pianist, and he tried his hand at composition atthe age of five, later being tutored at home by the composer Gli?¿re. In 1904,on the advice of Glazunov, his parents allowed him to enter the St PetersburgConservatory, where he continued his studies as a pianist and composer until1914, owing more to the influence of senior fellow-students Asafyev andMyaskovsky than to the older generation of teachers, represented by Lyadov andRimsky-Korsakov.Even as a student Prokofiev had begun to make his mark as a composer,arousing enthusiasm and hostility in equal measure, and inducing Glazunov, nowdirector of the Conservatory, to walk out of a performance of The ScythianSuite, fearing for his sense of hearing. During the war he gained exemptionfrom military service by enrolling as an organ student and after the 1917Revolution was given permission to travel abroad, at first to America, takingwith him the scores of The Scythian Suite, arranged from a balletoriginally commissioned by the impresario Dyagilev, the Classical Symphony andhis first Violin Concerto.Unlike Stravinsky and Rachmaninov, Prokofiev had left Russia withofficial permission and with the idea of returning home sooner or later. By1920, when life in America was proving less immediately rewarding, he moved toParis, where he re-established contact with Dyagilev, for whom he revised TheTale of the Buffoon, a ballet successfully staged in 1921. He spent much ofthe next sixteen years in France, returning from time to time to Russia, wherehis music was still acceptable.In 1936 Prokofiev decided to settle once more in his native country,taking up residence in Moscow in time for the first onslaught on music that didnot suit the political and social aims of the government, falling, asShostakovich is said to have remarked, 'like a chicken into the soup'. Twelveyears later, after the difficult war years, his name was joined with that ofShostakovich and others in explicit official condemnation, now with particularreference to Prokofiev's opera War and Peace. He died in 1953 on thesame day as Stalin and thus never benefited from the subsequent partialrelaxation of official policy on the arts.As a composer Prokofiev was prolific. His operas include the remarkable TheFiery Angel, first performed in its entirety in Paris the year after hisdeath, with ballet-scores in Russia for Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella.The last of his seven symphonies was completed in 1952, the year of hisunfinished sixth piano concerto. His piano sonatas are an importantcontribution to the piano repertoire, in addition to his songs and chambermusic, film-scores and much else, some works overtly serving the purposes ofthe Soviet state. In style his music is ofte
Tracklisting
Dariia Lytvishko
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop
Alice Di Piazza; Basel Sinfonietta; NDR Bigband; Titus Engel
Anna Alas i Jove; Miquel Villalba
David Childs; Black Dyke Band; Nicholas Childs
Zenz:Cathariou:Iacovidou
Zahir Ensemble
Yun-Yi Qin
