Prokofiev – Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3

As Artistic Director of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia “Evgeny Svetlanov” since 2011, I have the honour of leading one of Russia’s oldest and most traditional ensembles. When we discussed the first recordings with Pentatone, it was immediately clear to one and all that we wanted to record works by Russian composers. I quickly came up with the idea of a complete recording of symphonies by Sergei Prokofiev – of which this recording is the first release. It was very important to me to begin the cycle not with works that are popular in the West, such as the Symphonies No. 1 or No. 5, but rather to deliberately first tackle the obscure and, one might even say, impenetrable works.

For me personally, Prokofiev’s second and third symphonies rank among the most interesting and significant symphonic works in general – not just in Prokofiev’s oeuvre – dating from the period before World War II. Both works are still unfairly neglected, appearing only rarely on the concert programmes of the great orchestras. Of course, there is a reason for this: these pieces are enormously difficult to interpret. This is especially true for the second symphony. It is incredibly challenging, requiring extreme physical effort from the musicians.