Prokofiev Symphonies Nos. 1 and 5

James Gaffigan, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra

20,9928,49
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Original Recording Format: DXD
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The image Sergei Prokofiev seems to project, particularly when it comes to the music he wrote while living in the West from 1914 to 1935, is one of a joker and an agitator, yet a classical composer at the core. This double identity can be heard even in his earliest works, mostly for piano, written before 1914, and was sealed with his ‘Classical’ Symphony in 1917.

The subtitle is the composer’s own. Indeed, Prokofiev stated, ‘I wanted to write a symphony that Haydn or Mozart would have written had they lived in the twentieth century.’ In this way, he codified not only his own image, but also that of neoclassicism itself (the prevailing style during the interwar years) as ‘classical music with a few wrong notes here and there’.

His French contemporary Florent Schmitt called the work ‘an unpublished Haydn’, a characterization which is in part justified. In terms of their length, form, instrumentation and harmony, the first and last movements resemble a classical sonata.

Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
James Gaffigan, Conductor

Tracklist

Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.
1.
Symphony No. 1, Op. 25 - Allegro
04:33
2.
Symphony No. 1, Op. 25 - Intermezzo. Larghetto
04:16
3.
Symphony No. 1, Op. 25 - Gavotta - Non troppo allegro
01:27
4.
Symphony No. 1, Op. 25 - Finale - Molto vivace
04:11
5.
Symphony No. 5, Op. 100 - Andante
12:59
6.
Symphony No. 5, Op. 100 - Allegro marcato
08:54
7.
Symphony No. 5, Op. 100 - Adagio
12:14
8.
Symphony No. 5, Op. 100 - Allegro giocoso
09:54

Total time: 00:58:28

Additional information

Label

SKU

CC72732

Qualities

Channels

, ,

Artists

,

Composers

Genres

,

Cables

Siltech

Digital Converters

dCS

Editing Software

Pyramix

Mastering Engineer

Bert van der Wolf

Mastering Room

Avalon Acoustic

Microphones

Sonodore

Conductors

Instruments

Original Recording Format

Producer

Bert van der Wolf

Recording Engineer

Bert van der Wolf, Brenden Heinst

Recording location

MCO studio 5 Hilversum, The Netherlands

Recording Software

Merging

Recording Type & Bit Rate

DSD64

Release DateApril 7, 2017

Press reviews

Positive Feedback

From the opening bars, one feels something quite special going on in this performance. There is just a “rightness” to the dynamics and the pacing. Maestro Gaffigan certainly adheres to the tempo markings, there is no self-indulgent emphasis, but it’s not needed. The more I listen, the more this opening movement sounds right. (…) it is a very nice performance, and it is by a long way the best sounding of the various performances I know. (…) This album continues with Symphony No. 5 (1944) (…) and, if you are looking anywhere among Prokofiev’s symphonies for a truly powerful orchestral statement, this is a pretty good stopping point.

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