Prokofiev: Symphony No. 4 (The Prodigal Son) Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra & Marin Alsop

• 1 I. Andante - Allegro eroico - Allegretto 13:13
• 2 II. Andante tranquillo 10:05
• 3 III. Moderato, quasi allegretto 06:41
• 4 IV. Allegro risoluto 10:19
• 5 Scene 1: Le depart (The departure) 05:07
• 6 Scene 1: Rencontre avec des camarades (Meeting friends) 04:14
• 7 Scene 1: L'enjoleuse (The seductress) 05:01
• 8 Scene 1: Les danseurs (The dancers) 02:48
• 9 Scene 2: L'enfant prodigue et l'enjoleuse (The prodigal son and the seductress) 03:30
• 10 Scene 2: L'ivresse (Drunkenness) 02:21
• 11 Scene 2: Pillage (The despoiling) 02:36
• 12 Scene 2: Reveil et remords (Awakening and remorse) 03:05
• 13 Scene 3: Intermede: Partage du butin (Interlude: Sharing the spoils) 02:51
• 14 Scene 3: Le retour (The return) 06:21
• Total Runtime 01:18:12

Info for Prokofiev: Symphony No. 4 (The Prodigal Son)

Prokofiev’s imposing Fourth Symphony and his final ballet for Sergey Dyagilev, The Prodigal Son, share common roots but are entirely distinctive in character.

The vivid depictions in the ballet’s moral tale include sensual temptations, drunken debauchery, robbery and remorse. The 1947 revision of the Fourth Symphony, lengthened and enriched in orchestration by the addition of a piccolo clarinet, piano and harp, makes extended use of themes from The Prodigal Son as well as unused material. Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony with Marin Alsop and the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (8.573029) was described as “an outstanding achievement” by BBC Music Magazine.

„…this new installment is both intelligently programmed and very well played and conducted. Alsop does a fine job characterizing the abundance of motoric material in the ballet, and she makes the lyrical moments in the symphony sound genuinely memorable. The orchestra plays very well throughout, and the sonics are naturally vivid… A fine disc.“ (David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com)

“[Alsop] brings out the lyricism prevalent in the score [of the Symphony], but also rises to the drama of the work’s climaxes. The very ending of the symphony is quite powerful and Alsop does not disappoint here...the São Paulo Symphony plays its heart out for Alsop.” (MusicWeb International)

São Paulo Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop, conductor

Recorded at the Sala São Paulo, Brazil, from 27th to 30th November and 2nd to 3rd December, 2012 (tracks 1-4), and from 4th to 7th and 9th July, 2012 (tracks 5-14)
Produced, engineered and edited by Ulrich Schneider

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Booklet for Prokofiev: Symphony No. 4 (The Prodigal Son)