Riccardo Chailly conducts Prokofiev at the Concertgebouw Orchestra

Film music, ballets, symphonies - Prokofiev could do anything and was rarely shy of catchy melodies. The orchestral wizard gets a podium of honor with Riccardo Chailly with the compelling cantata Alexander Nyevsky, in which the Concertgebouw Orchestra is joined by the Groot Omroepkoor and celebrated mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk. Before intermission, Prokofiev's adventurous, far too unknown Fourth Symphony will be heard.

Prokofiev

Alexander Nyevsky was the result of an extraordinary collaboration between the composer Sergei Prokofiev and the film director Sergei Eisenstein, who greatly admired each other. Prokofiev forged the best pieces from the soundtrack into a flowery orchestrated cantata, with songs full of tragedy, suspense and folk melodies. In his 1930 Fourth Symphony, Prokofiev reused material from a ballet that was never completed. Riccardo Chailly conducts the second, greatly improved 1947 version. The second movement is one of the finest hidden gems in orchestral history.

About Alexander Nevsky

Many compositions from the twentieth century are inextricably linked to nationalist ideologies. This is also true of Prokofiev'sAlexander Nevsky, written during the Stalinist regime. The text, about a legendary medieval grand prince who led the fight against invaders, glorifies the collective identity of 'the Russian people'. But performing the cantata does not mean endorsing its nationalistic content. The Concertgebouw Orchestra wants to emphasize that, precisely because it is performed in a concert hall, the work can be listened to critically, historically, and musically, rather than as a means of state propaganda.

Unfortunately, mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk has had to withdraw due to personal circumstances. We are grateful to Marie-Nicole Lemieux for agreeing to take over the solo part in Alexander Nevsky.