February 26, 2018

  • An Excellent "Terrible" Ivan!

     Prokofiev: Ivan the Terrible

    Marina Prudenskaya, alto. Alexander Vinogradov, bass.
    Rundfunkchor Berlin, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin/Frank Strobel
    Capriccio 5311
    Total Time—Disc One:  67:51
    Total Time—Disc Two:  49:21
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    After their successful collaboration on the film Alexander Nevsky (1938), Sergei Eisenstein embarked on a film that would explore the reign of Tsar Ivan IV.  The massive historical film was set in two parts and covered the years from 1545-1569.  Sergei Prokofiev tackled this massive work like any large-scale project crafting a piece that is filled with a sense of nationalism and reverence alongside some of the composer’s most stunning music.  He would work on the music between 1942-1945.  It is the same period that saw the completion of the fifth symphony, with many tropes from that work finding their way into the film music.  Only the first part of the film would meet with Stalin’s approval, even receiving the Stalin Prize in 1946.  The same could not be said of the second part, of which some feel is the more artistic achievement of the two, which was banned from distribution.  Two years later when Eisenstadt died his obituary would appear at the same time Prokofiev and Shostakovich were being attacked for their formalism and identified as enemies of the people.  Such was the period, and Prokofiev essentially stuffed the score away.  Some of the music surfaced in an oratorio-like form over the years, though it never quite met with the same approval or public reception that Alexander Nevsky had.  A concert version of the music was also arranged by Christopher Palmer to try and explore more of the depths of the score.  The current Capriccio release attempts to put together a more complete rendition of the film score in original order.

    The recording is simply stunning.  And the choral work here equally so.  The “Kyrie eleison” provides an ancient Orthodox spirituality that wafts across the choral moments here in most reflective modes, and even in the beautiful “Song of Praise”.  The lyricism of “Ivan’s Tent” is perhaps some of the composer’s most immediately Romantic tinged music that grows into these wonderful climaxes.  The second half of this cue, “Riot”, brings us the more modernist compositional scherzo style that would appear in the composer’s fifth symphony.  What is most fascinating is to hear the way the composer’s style informs these sequences.  “The Entrance of the Tartars” is an excellent example of these small motivic cells repeated in dark low brass with thematic statements that might suddenly appear in high brass, or switch to such gorgeous music in winds and strings on a heroic scale.  These are the moments when one feels the composer’s sense of connection to the grand heritage of Russia (one melody in particular will be quite familiar as it was used by Tchaikovsky in his 1812 Overture part of the exciting finale to part 1).  Perhaps though it is in the fast-paced action sequences where the score tends to shine the most.  The very moving music for Anastasia though as part one comes to a close is perhaps as close to a Hollywood sound as the score gets perhaps with a gorgeous thematic line that is repeated across several minutes.  As Part II begins, we return to the grand thematic idea and chorus from Part I with these great harmonic cadences that are hallmarks of Prokofiev’s mature style.  There are moments that often feel more intimately connected to his ballets and this is perhaps clearest in the “Fanfares-Polonaise” section with its Neo-Classic harmonic surprises and excellent wind writing.  There is also the tense and exciting “Orderly Dance” that moves into one of the score highlights, “The Death of Glinskaya”, whose music recalls the fifth symphony in its nervous propelling strings and clarinet solo.  The darker qualities of this portion of the film bring out some equally dark music filled with appropriate intrigue.  It is perhaps in some of these repetitive moments where the music churns quietly along that the score perhaps reveals its film connection most.  This is in stark contrast to the more intimate vocal moments (“We Are Innocents and at Their Mercy”).  The more macabre sections add the appropriate darkness as the center of the score tends to focus on a more refrained and emotional musical accompaniment.  These components are alternate throughout the second part adding unique variations that also help connect to our experience of this music after the intervening scenes.  The repetition is perhaps far greater than the music introduced on disc one.  That does not stop the music from being interesting as new ideas pop up from time to time, like the fascinating “Song of the Oprichniki” with its almost Orff-like sound and odd tempo shifts, but which also recurs with chilling surrounding music that works to pull the joy from the characters and descends into darkness.  There is always something new though to grab the ear, whether it is an instrumental color, or a new thematic thread.

    The booklet features an interesting essay about the work.  Track numbers for disc one are unfortunately off (track 11 is skipped which just makes everything after it off by 1).  It would help to have a clear outline of each track.  This is especially so as the booklet features texts in Cyrillic script which only the most astute listener will be able to follow.  The English text translations are to the far right of these with German texts in the middle which does not aid this at all.  And since there are no track numbers to connect to the song texts provided, one is better off just reading a synopsis at this point.  This is about the only aspect that really mars the release.

    Soloists are excellent here as is the Berlin Rundfunk chorus and orchestra.  The chorus sometimes does blend more into the orchestra making texts harder to pick out, but this is not a distracting issue.  The music itself is quite engaging and nothing here musically detracts from this.  The more extended sequences of music land in part one with the second part representing more succinct moments.  Most recordings have had about an hour’s worth of music culled together from the score.  This eliminates the sort of repetition that occurs across the entire score, but which provides a truly unique experience to hear how these ideas provide an ongoing arc and support to the narrative.  This is yet another significant release from Strobel not to be missed!