Sergei Prokofiev's "Symphony No. 5 in B flat major op. 100", played by the WDR Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Cristian Măcelaru. Recorded live on 10.02.2023 at the Kölner Philharmonie.
Sergei Prokofiev - Symphony No. 5 in B flat major op. 100
00:00:00 I. Andante
00:14:03 II. Allegro marcato
00:23:15 III. adagio
00:37:36 IV. Allegro giocoso
WDR Symphony Orchestra
Cristian Măcelaru, conductor
In his series "Short and Classic", chief conductor Cristian Măcelaru talks about Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony: • Sergej Prokofjew: Sinf...
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Work introduction:
Moscow, June 1944. In the midst of the Second World War, hunger and housing shortages prevail in the capital of the Soviet Union. Sergei Prokofiev and his wife live in a room in the Hotel Moskva, not far from Red Square. But here, too, conditions are anything but ideal. Composing is out of the question. Then he is relieved by an invitation to spend the summer in the house of the composers' association in Ivanovo. On the outskirts of the town, 250 kilometres north of Moscow, there are vast forests and lots of nature. Prokofiev takes long walks and feels reminded of his childhood, which he spent on a country estate. He knows that a heroic work is expected of him in those times of war. In Ivanovo, he does indeed compose a representative symphony, but one that clearly transcends the circumstances of the time. Similar to Bartók in his 2nd Violin Concerto, Prokofiev also synthesises his previous work in his Fifth. His First and also the Fourth strike neo-classical notes, while the Second and the Third come across as rather wild, dissonant, even partly raw. Now, in the Fifth, the style is moderate, and the music develops with great epic arcs.
The composition is completed after only two months, so that on 26 August Prokofiev calls together the composer colleagues who are also staying in Ivanovo, including Dmitri Shostakovich. Prokofiev plays the new work for them on the piano. Dmitri Kabalevsky recalls: "The symphony left a strong impression on all of us, and we made no secret of our enthusiasm. Prokofiev was very satisfied - after all, he always considered this opus to be one of his best works." In early 1945, the composer himself conducted the premiere. When he has already raised the baton, cannon salvos suddenly sound into the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, proclaiming the Soviet victory on the Vistula - a historical connotation full of ambivalence.
Text: Otto Hagedorn