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Untitled Document
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PROKOFIEV, S.: Alexander Nevsky / Lieutenant Kije Suite |
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Composer: |
Sergey Prokofiev |
Artist: |
Ewa Podles, Jennie Tourel |
Conductor: |
James DePreist, Richard Hayman, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Stephen Gunzenhauser, Andrew Mogrelia, Eugene Ormandy |
Choir: |
Philharmonic Symphony Chorus, Latvian State Choir |
Orchestra: |
Philadelphia Orchestra, Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Kosice, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Malmo Symphony Orchestra, Lille National Orchestra, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Richard Hayman Symphony Orchestra, Czecho-Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra |
Label: |
Naxos |
Catalogue No.: |
8.557725 |
Format: |
CD |
Barcode: |
0747313272525 |
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Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78 • Lieutenant Kijé Suite, Op. 60
Sergey Prokofiev was born in 1891 at Sontsovka in Ukraine, the son of a prosperous estate manager. An only child, his musical talents were
fostered by his mother, a cultured amateur pianist, and he tried his hand at composition
at the age of five, later being tutored at home by the composer Glière. In
1904, on the advice of Glazunov, his parents allowed him to enter the St
Petersburg Conservatory, where he continued his studies as a pianist and
composer until 1914, owing more to the influence of senior fellow-students
Asafyev and Myaskovsky than to the older generation of teachers, represented by
Lyadov and Rimsky-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, now director of the Conservatory, to walk out of a performance of The
Scythian Suite, fearing for his sense of hearing. During the war he gained
exemption from military service by enrolling as an organ student and after the
Revolution was given permission to travel abroad, at first to America, taking with him the scores of The Scythian Suite, arranged from a ballet originally
commissioned by the impresario Diaghilev, the Classical Symphony and his
first Violin Concerto.
Unlike Stravinsky and Rachmaninov, Prokofiev had left Russia with official permission and with the idea of returning home sooner or later. By
1920, when life in America was proving less immediately rewarding, he moved to Paris, where he re-established contact with Diaghilev, for whom he revised The Tale of
the Buffoon, a ballet successfully staged in 1921. He spent much of the next
sixteen years in France, returning from time to time to Russia, where his 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 did not suit the political and social aims of the government, falling, as Shostakovich
is said to have remarked, 'like a chicken into the soup'. Twelve years later,
after the difficult war years, his name was joined with that of Shostakovich
and others in explicit official condemnation, now with particular reference to
Prokofiev's opera War and Peace. He died in 1953 on the same day as
Stalin and thus never benefited from the subsequent partial relaxation of official
policy on the arts.
The cantata Alexander Nevsky is drawn from the music
Prokofiev wrote in 1938 for Sergey Eisenstein's film dealing with the 13th-century
conflict between Russia and the Teutonic crusaders, events which seemed to have
a contemporary relevance, with the growing threat to Soviet Russia from Nazi
Germany. Both Eisenstein and Prokofiev had had experience of Hollywood, the
latter during a visit in 1938, and Prokofiev coupled an interest in the new
technology with an enthusiasm for the medium, demonstrated in the eight film-scores
that he wrote. These included a further productive collaboration with
Eisenstein on which he embarked in 1942 in the film Ivan the Terrible.
The two worked closely together on Alexander Nevsky, with scenes
sometimes following music that had already been written, or at other times
composed immediately after seeing the first rushes.
The cantata from the film-score for Alexander Nevsky,
which broadly follows the cinematic narrative, opens with music that reflects,
in its initial harshness, the suffering of Russia under Mongolian oppression,
the cruelty of the oppressors contrasted with the more plaintive material
suggesting the hardships endured by the people. 'Song about Alexander Nevsky'
celebrates Alexander's defeat of the Swedish armies on the banks of the
River Neva, in music that reflects the determination of the Russians against
their enemies. In 'The Crusaders in Pskov' Prokofiev, as elsewhere,
avoids recourse to anything suggesting music contemporary with the events depicted
in the film. The Teutonic crusaders, however, are given a brief Latin text,
their music, with its harsh brass chords and hymn-like implications, in
contrast to the supplication of the people. There follows a patriotic call to
battle in the stirring 'Arise, ye Russian people'. 'The Battle on the Ice', an
extended scene in the film, is depicted first by music that suggests the cold
of Russian winter. The approach of the Teutonic knights is heard, with their
chant 'Peregrinus, expectavi, pedes meos in cymbalis', as they ride forward.
The Russians, with a motif from 'Arise, ye Russian people', charge against
their enemy, and the rival forces clash in mortal struggle. Final Russian
victory, in spite of heavy losses, is celebrated in a triumphant march, with a
concluding reference to the Alexander Nevsky Song. 'The Field of Death' has
a woman searching for her lover, ready to kiss the one who has died for Russia,
and praising the brave rather than the handsome. The cantata ends with
Alexander Nevsky's entry into Pskov. The song in his praise is heard, with other
earlier elements of the score recalled before the final triumph.
The well-known music for Lieutenant Kijé was written
in 1933 for a film, the first of the highly successful film-scores that
Prokofiev was to write during the next ten years. Directed by Alexander
Feinzimmer and based on a story by Yuri Tynyanov, the film is a satire on
official stupidity and subservience, set in the time of Tsar Paul, son of
Catherine the Great. A clerical error adds a non-existent officer to a list
presented to the Tsar, who then singles out this man, Lieutenant Kijé, for special
notice. The officials are too afraid to reveal the true state of affairs, and
the fictitious lieutenant goes on from honour to honour, interrupted only by
temporary disgrace and exile to Siberia, subsequent pardon and promotion to the
rank of general. He is finally buried in an empty coffin. Prokofiev arranged
the Suite, Op. 60, from Lieutenant Kijé in 1934. For this he had
to make considerable adjustments to the original music, but the suite retains
its allusive melodic appeal, notably in the final funeral of Kijé, and,
particularly in its orchestration, the irony that was at the heart of the story
and the film.
Keith Anderson
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