Search - Bela Bartok, Sergey Prokofiev, George Szell :: Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5; Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra

The finest Prokofiev 5 ever recorded.

Terry L. Whipple terrtwo@earthlink. | Lakewood, Ohio | 07/05/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sony has finally reissued Szell's matchless 1959 study of Prokofiev's best-structured symphonic essay. No other conductor in my mind has ever equalled his ability to illumine the full architectural splendor of this masterpiece. Szell was fond of demonstrating Kodaly's edict that what is "written underneath" in a score does not necessarily "sound underneath." Is there a better proof of such claim than this reading? Some may find the document too pedantic, opting for the more emotional Jimmy Levine (a protege of Szell)on DG. Though today's Chicago Symphony comes perhaps closest to the level of playing preserved here, the breathtaking urgency, the astoundingly punctillious rhythms, and the vivid inciciveness and unity of attack under Szell are incomparable. The vertical beams of Prokofiev's delicious harmonies have never been more seductively (though unsentimentally) disrobed before the ears. A tremendous achievement in the history of recording! The disc also contains Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, a work I never considered to be among the composer's best efforts; presumably, Szell was similarly-minded, as evinced by his unorthodox (and surely controversial) cut before the coda of the finale, an "improvement" which never seemed entirely convincing to me. I can easily imagine the original LP fooling scores of listeners into believing their stylus had just skipped a groove. The handsome booklet includes another hilarious "Szell anecdote," courtesy of Cloyd Duff, the famous retired tympanist, a fitting testament to the conductor's unabashed fastidiousness and his sometimes---I would even say childish---irrationality under duress. Terry Whipple"

Outstanding Prokofiev, less convincing Bartók

L. Johan Modée | Earth | 11/18/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This edition of the Sony/CBS Masterworks Heritage contains one of the finest Prokofiev Symphony no. 5 that we have on record. The work as such seems to fit like hand in glove for Szell: his electrifying conducting and the tensions within this symphony is a fruitful combination. Add the Cleveland Orchestra at its very peak, and a very fine recording and remastering, and the result is of course nothing but outstanding. If you only want one Prokofiev 5, this is the one to grab.



The Bartók Concerto, by contrast, is a disappointment. Why is that? Well, Szell's interpretation is of course, as in the Prokofiev, second to none for this work... at least in the four first movements. In the fifth and final movement, however, Szell omits bars 426 to 555 - this is quite a big and also, in my view, devastating cut. The cut contains the shadowy "night music" in end of the finale, from which the final brass coda emerges with such a striking effect. Szell thought that this cut would improve the finale. I cannot see how. In general, I think that conductors have no right to make cuts in a composer's works: they should be performed according to the score, at least as close to the score as possible. Cuts of substantial material are always bad: it is an amputation of parts of the work, not an interpretation of it. And in the present Bartók case, Szell's cut is a complete mistake. The final glowing brass chords are much better off when gradually emerging from the night music section. In the mutilated Szell finale, we hear just an abrupt and blunt jump from bar 418, which Szell repeats four times, to the final chords. So, for the Concerto, Fritz Reiner's classic Chicago recording is the one to have.



In sum, 5 stars and beyond for the Prokofiev, 3 stars for Bartók (but for movements one to four, 5 stars).

"

Intense and Colorful

M. Seeley | Charlotte, NC | 11/05/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"These two performances display the famous Cleveland hallmark of flawless execution and power. Szell's players show the utmost care in intonation, balance, and shaping of phrases. In the opening of the Prokofiev, Szell's brisk, lighter opening gives little indication of the drama that is to come. It starts the musical line building tension that becomes more propulsive as the symphony unfolds. In the Bartok, Szell gives his players the liberty to shape their solos but with the same control of the musical line as in the Prokofiev. Szell to a certain extent was a literalist. But he never took his literalism to the point of dogma and here, uncharacteristically, he makes a cut in the final movement that sours this performance that otherwise rivals Reiner."