Classical Album Reviews: Gianandrea Noseda and Franz Welser-Möst Conduct Prokofiev

By Jonathan Blumhofer

Two takes on the orchestral music of Prokofiev — one impish and unpretentious, the other revelatory.

Gianandrea Noseda’s traversal of Russian symphonic music with the London Symphony Orchestra has made its way from Shostakovich to Tchaikovsky and, now, Prokofiev. To judge from this new recording of Symphony No. 1 (“Classical”), the conductor’s got a strong feeling for the music’s play of impish character and unpretentious lyricism.

To be sure, the first movement boasts a commendable degree of clarity, energy, and direction — as well as wit and, at the climax of the development, some welcome tension. Meantime, the Larghetto unfolds with a certain beguiling playfulness and the Gavotte trips tipsily enough: nothing in the latter is heavy-handed or underlined with too much force. That’s also true of the finale, whose chattering woodwind lines dance with skittish brilliance.

LSO Live’s engineering is well-balanced and clean, though the orchestra’s captured at a bit of a distance. Accordingly, this isn’t one of the more in-your-face “Classical” Symphony performances out there. Also, at just 14 minutes, the disc’s a bit short. Regardless, the playing Noseda and Friends manage is agreeable.

For a bit more substance, Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra also have a new recording of a single Prokofiev symphony: the Fifth. Written in 1944, the score’s generally counted among the 20th century’s finest. Welser-Möst and his Clevelanders certainly play it like it’s something special.

The slow first and third movements are truly breathtaking. In the former, the music’s sense of color and character comes over with astonishing warmth and plushness. The blend of instruments, flow of the line, and coherence of the movement’s structure speak with remarkable power and beauty.

So, too, the Adagio, which is exceedingly well directed. To be sure, not only is the reading shapely and focused, but the Clevelanders’ textural clarity reveals a host of instrumental detail work that’s often glossed over.

The Fifth’s fast movements also exhibit a remarkable degree of tonal lushness. That doesn’t mean they lack edge, necessarily: the second’s articulations are incredibly precise and the mix of bite and lyricism the violins offer in the finale must be heard to be believed.

That said, one misses some abrasive spirit in the transition to the Allegro marcato’s coda, and there are some spotty balance issues with the percussion section near the end of the finale. But these are small complaints given the excellence of Welser-Möst’s larger reading — not to mention its truly revelatory aspects.


Jonathan Blumhofer is a composer and violist who has been active in the greater Boston area since 2004. His music has received numerous awards and been performed by various ensembles, including the American Composers Orchestra, Kiev Philharmonic, Camerata Chicago, Xanthos Ensemble, and Juventas New Music Group. Since receiving his doctorate from Boston University in 2010, Jon has taught at Clark University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and online for the University of Phoenix, in addition to writing music criticism for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

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