Prokofiev - Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution
£14.73
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Label: Audite
Cat No: AUDITE97754
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Vocal/Choral
Release Date: 16th February 2018
Contents
Artists
Ernst Senff Chor BerlinStaatskapelle Weimar
Mitglieder des Luftwaffenmusikkorps Erfurt
Conductor
Kirill KarabitsWorks
Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution, op.74Artists
Ernst Senff Chor BerlinStaatskapelle Weimar
Mitglieder des Luftwaffenmusikkorps Erfurt
Conductor
Kirill KarabitsAbout
Sound/Video
Paused
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1I. Prelude
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2II. The Philosophers
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3III. Interlude
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4IV. A tight little band
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5V. Interlude
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6VI. Revolution
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7VII. Victory
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8VIII. The Oath
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9IX. Symphony
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10X. The Constitution
Europadisc Review
This new recording by Kirill Karabits and massed forces from Berlin, Weimar and Erfurt – in short, the former East Germany – is particularly welcome, the result of a live performance on 23 August 2017 at the Kunstfest Weimar, as it forms a fascinating pendant to Karabits’s outstanding cycle of Prokofiev’s symphonies with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra on the Onyx label. As on those recordings, Karabits here shows himself a natural master of Prokofiev’s musical language, knowing exactly when to apply drive and grandeur without destroying the music’s underlying lyricism.
Part epic, part ode, with the participation of not just a vast orchestra (quadruple wind with eight horns), but an accordion ensemble, brass band and a battery (for once the epithet is entirely apposite) as well as a huge double chorus, this is a work of huge sonic and emotional force. The revolutionary texts, by Marx, Lenin and Stalin, take some swallowing, not least given the atrocities perpetrated by the latter at the time of the Cantata’s composition; best not to focus on them too closely, but to sit back and absorb the music itself. And what music it is! From the sinister, primordial rumblings of the Prologue, through the chanting of the ‘Philosophers’ movement, to the dynamism of the ‘Revolution’ centrepiece when all hell is let loose, and then on to the quasi-religious ‘Oath’ and the ultimately uplifting final two sections, this is a work of immense power and engagement, and the combined forces of voices and instruments sing and play their hearts out.
In the purely instrumental movements (sections 1, 3, 5 and 9) the orchestra are marvellous, a tribute to Karabits’s phenomenal abilities as an orchestral animateur. Surprisingly inventive sonorities are nurtured and relished, with just enough tartness to the reeds to give a period tanginess to the music. With superb orchestral support, the choral contributions are uniformly excellent, the balance ideal, the sense of commitment palpable. Thankfully the recording is not too close (that might have overwhelmed many a home listener!), but the stereo separation makes the most of antiphonal play between the choir’s various sections. The entries of the alarm tocsin, accordion band and siren in the ‘Revolution’ movement are as effective coups de théâtre as Prokofiev surely intended, folk inflections are brilliantly realised, and even Karabits joins in, as the megaphone-amplified voice of Lenin himself (‘The success of the revolution hangs on two or three days! Let all perish, but do not let the enemy pass!’).
There’s no coupling, but in music of this immersiveness it’s hardly needed, especially when the performance itself is so involving and rewarding. The accompanying booklet includes the sensibly transliterated full Russian text, alongside English and German translations, and there’s a very nice cover which perfectly captures the tone of the work. No hint of irony à la Shostakovich, but a perfect understanding of the patriotic cantata genre and the historic significance of the work itself and the circumstances of its composition. Definitely not for the fainthearted, but an absolute must for anyone who followed Karabits’s Prokofiev cycle on Onyx. The Audite team have done the performers proud, and this is a chance to savour what must have been a spine-tinglingly memorable live performance.
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