'I conceived it as a symphony on the greatness of the human soul' ~ Sergei Prokofiev
Hamish McKeich Photo: Tracy Valarie
When Sergei Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony premiered in 1945, audiences in the USSR and the USA heard music which filled them with hope. As the orchestra’s CEO Peter Biggs reminds us, “we still have a long way to go in battling a pandemic and wrestling with many uncertainties it has created but listening to Prokofiev’s optimistic music reminds us to never give up".
During the fateful summer of 1944 when Prokofiev was composing this work, though the Second World War was still raging, the tide had turned in the Allies’ favour. The Soviets were gradually pushing back the Nazis from their borders, and the US and British Allies had landed on the beaches of Normandy in June. An uplifting symphony expressing the greatness of humanity would have been both a balm and an encouragement to battered Russian souls.
Prokofiev was perhaps the greatest melodist of his time, and this symphony is full of his uniquely beautiful melodies, beginning simply, with a lyrical melody shared by the flute and bassoon.
But, like Shostakovich, Prokofiev also composed under the Stalinist regime and was censored and censured. His Fifth Symphony was one of the few works not condemned though, and eventually sanctions against Prokofiev’s music were reversed and even Stalin capitulated, awarding Prokofiev the Stalin Prize in 1951.
Recorded 6 August 2020, Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington by RNZ Concert
Producer: David McCaw
Engineer: Darryl Stack
