Prokofiev II 7 - 11 October

[Nick Armstrong]

Loved the second episode of this week's programmes, with various arrangements of sections from Romeo & Juliet...

Christian Lindberg playing The Young Juliet as a trombone solo was phenomenal! Enjoyed the marimba arrangement too...

[Sir Velo]

Thanks for the pointer. I normally would run a mile at another broadcast of Romeo & Juliet - but thanks to the wonders of Bluetooth and an Arcam Mini Blink I am now enjoying these somewhat quirky arrangements in sumptuous R3 HD sound. I particularly liked the attack of the cello quartet in the ubiquitous DOTK.

[Serial_Apologist]

The music for "Alexander Nevsky" still must be the greatest ever film music, surely?

Prokofiev is one of those strange figures whose character seemed so out of kilter with his music it leaves one wondering...

[BBMmk2]

Loved the second episode of this week's programmes, with various arrangements of sections from Romeo & Juliet...

Christian Lindberg playing The Young Juliet as a trombone solo was phenomenal! Enjoyed the marimba arrangement too...

Very suitable Cali! :) Much to catch up on at the moment, so I hope to with these programmes.

[Serial_Apologist]

COTW: Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) - 7-11 October

The last series of 2016 concentrated on the return to Russia years; this one deals with the years of exile following the Bolshevik revolution: arguably Prokofiev's most freely creative and off-the-leash, when he produced his best or at least most enduring works, starting this morning with the last movement of the First Violin Concerto of 1917 - one of my favourite violin concertos.

[Serial_Apologist]

The last series of 2016 concentrated on the return to Russia years; this one deals with the years of exile following the Bolshevik revolution: arguably Prokofiev's most freely creative and off-the-leash, when he produced his best or at least most enduring works, starting this morning with the last movement of the First Violin Concerto of 1917 - one of my favourite violin concertos.

(Or should I have started a brand new thread?)

[ardcarp]

This one's fine for me if you want to edit the date in the thread title. Or start a new one if you think it best. Very much enjoyed today's edition. I'm heavily Pro Prokofiev. I too love the violin concerto. (I think it pre-dates Stavinsky's (also in D) by quite a margin...and I love that one too.) And the Classical Symphony...just a classic. I think Donald mentions how precise and careful orchestral players have to be to bring it off. Yes indeed.

[Serial_Apologist]

This one's fine for me if you want to edit the date in the thread title. Or start a new one if you think it best. Very much enjoyed today's edition. I'm heavily Pro Prokofiev. I too love the violin concerto. (I think it pre-dates Stavinsky's (also in D) by quite a margin...and I love that one too.) And the Classical Symphony...just a classic. I think Donald mention how precise and careful orchestral players have to be to bring it off. Yes indeed.

Probably better to amend the dates to the original thread than start a new one, if you would be so kind, ardy.

[ardcarp]

OK. Hope that's not confusing anyone!

[Serial_Apologist]

I hope everyone listening is enjoying this week's series on Prokofiev as much as me. I get the impression that the researching for COTW has greatly improved is the past year or two, and we are now left with a much better impression of what things must have been like for the composer concerned. The one drawback for me however remains the fast forwarding and reversing that takes place, leaving one not knowing where one is in the chronology, which would be far better told in sequence, as it would make sense of why such and such an occasion or decision had had negative consequences (say), when we have already learned through the order of presentation that matters would be resolved at a later stage. In addition we would get examples showing in what way a composer's music evolved.

It was interesting to learn today that Prokofiev was a keen jazz fan, owner of over 100 jazz records - a lot for anyone in the 1920s, even given that these would have been 78s - although one had to assume the 1920s were being talked about - and that he considered some jazz as great as serious music. I am always reminded of a remark of Keith Tippett's when being asked if he also performed "serious music": "This does annoy me, as I consider all the music I perform to be serious".

[LMcD]

I hope everyone listening is enjoying this week's series on Prokofiev as much as me. I get the impression that the researching for COTW has greatly improved is the past year or two, and we are now left with a much better impression of what things must have been like for the composer concerned. The one drawback for me however remains the fast forwarding and reversing that takes place, leaving one not knowing where one is in the chronology, which would be far better told in sequence, as it would make sense of why such and such an occasion or decision had had negative consequences (say), when we have already learned through the order of presentation that matters would be resolved at a later stage. In addition we would get examples showing in what way a composer's music evolved.

It was interesting to learn today that Prokofiev was a keen jazz fan, owner of over 100 jazz records - a lot for anyone in the 1920s, even given that these would have been 78s - although one had to assume the 1920s were being talked about - and that he considered some jazz as great as serious music. I am always reminded of a remark of Keith Tippett's when being asked if he also performed "serious music": "This does annoy me, as I consider all the music I perform to be serious".

I didn't know that Vernon Duke was originally Russian! I think it's been a very good CoTW.

[Serial_Apologist]

Proko Mk 3 starting just now. Since this is about his childhood (apparently) and he was a prodigy, it would have been nice to have heard something from prior to the first piano concerto.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002n9qx

[smittims]

I hope there will be some examination of his curious decision to return to Russia in , I think, 1934. Maybe, like HG Wells and George Bernard Shaw he was not well-informed about exactly what was going on there.

[Tapiola]

I hope there will be some examination of his curious decision to return to Russia in , I think, 1934. Maybe, like HG Wells and George Bernard Shaw he was not well-informed about exactly what was going on there.

That would be interesting. Shostakovich (via Testimony) described Prokofiev as a chicken coming back to the soup. You are rather more kind about GBS than I would be: he saw what he wanted to see.

[Tapiola]

Off topic, but as an Irishman (Northern), it takes me to the fair when Irish authors like JBS, Joyce, Beckett etc hide and write outside Ireland, the better to bitch about their country (or others'). Stay in your lane, or shut up. If they had stayed, they'd be shut up quick smart by their compatriots!