Special offer. Prokofiev: Symphony Nos. 1 & 5
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Thomas Søndergård
Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony receives here a performance of one’s dreams. Using a slightly reduced body of strings, Thomas Søndergård elicits from the Royal Scottish National orchestra neatly...
Special offer. Prokofiev: Symphony Nos. 1 & 5
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Thomas Søndergård
Purchase product
Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony receives here a performance of one’s dreams. Using a slightly reduced body of strings, Thomas Søndergård elicits from the Royal Scottish National orchestra neatly...
About
• Thomas Søndergård’s sophomore album as Music Director marks his first symphonic recording with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
• Søndergård conducts an all-Prokofiev programme juxtaposing two contrasting symphonies: Symphony No. 1 in D major ‘Classical’ and Symphony No. 5 in B flat major.
• Prokofiev delights in paying homage to Haydn in his neo-classical masterpiece; its characterful melodies, freshness and overall joie de vivre have established Symphony No. 1 as enduringly popular.
• In contrast the Fifth Symphony was forged in the flames of war, and dedicated, Prokofiev said, to ‘the greatness of the human spirit’.
• Following a concert performance The Herald commented, ‘This was the conductor at his most energetic and impassioned, and it drew a corresponding performance from the orchestra.’
• Prokofiev has been a key focus for Søndergård since 2016 and the conductor has announced plans to complete a symphonic cycle over four seasons with his orchestra.
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
May 2020
Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony receives here a performance of one’s dreams. Using a slightly reduced body of strings, Thomas Søndergård elicits from the Royal Scottish National orchestra neatly articulated and next to immaculate playing…Every movement seems ideally paced, exemplified by the finale – a miraculous combination of briskness, glitter and charm.
May 2020
So what if the orchestra’s sonority is not the heftiest. It matters not a bit in the Classical Symphony. With Søndergård pursuing a good-natured middle course between the quicksilver dash of Serge Koussevitzky and the mushier trudge of Seiji Ozawa or Valery Gergiev, we’re offered a wealth of detail commonly overlooked. Bassoons chortle and violins gleam above the stave...This is fresh and engaged music-making, well worth exploring.
