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Vividly Coloured
Prokofiev from the BBC Philharmonic,
reviewed by MIKE WHEELER
This was another of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra's Discovering Music series, with presenter Jonathan James talking us through two highly contrasted works by Prokofiev, his early Autumnal Sketch, and excerpts from what is arguably his supreme masterpiece, the ballet score Romeo and Juliet (Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, 21 April 2016).
He began by describing Prokofiev's time as a student at the St Petersburg Conservatoire, taught by Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov, but also coming under the important influence of Skryabin — you could almost 'smell the incense'. He suggested Autumnal Sketch also had echoes of Rakhmaninov's tone-poem The Isle of the Dead, with its 'melodic twirls'...
Copyright © 5 May 2016
Mike Wheeler,
Derby UK
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