Symphony-Concerto (Prokofiev)

Sergei Prokofiev's Symphony-Concerto in E minor (sometimes also called Sinfonia Concertante), is a large-scale work for cello and orchestra. Prokofiev dedicated it to Mstislav Rostropovich, who premiered it on February 18, 1952 with Sviatoslav Richter conducting (the only instance of Richter conducting). After this first performance (under the title 'Cello Concerto No. 2'), it was revised and given its current title. It is itself a revised version of his earlier Cello Concerto, Op. 58, written in 1933–8.

Since the Central Committee decision on February 10, 1948, Prokofiev was considered a "suspect" musician. His work was disparaged as bourgeois and formalistic, and his first wife was convicted as a spy and taken to a forced-labor camp. These misfortunes and the possibility of being arrested without reason most likely affected Prokofiev's already deteriorating health.

The work, around 40 minutes long, is in three movements:

#Andante (11 minutes)
#Allegro (18 minutes)
#Andante con moto - Allegretto - Allegro marcato (11 minutes)

This work inspired Dmitri Shostakovich to write his Cello Concerto No. 1, also dedicated to Rostropovich.

Benjamin Britten and Ellen Zwilich have also written symphonies for solo cello and orchestra.

History

The premiere of Prokofiev's Cello Concerto (Op. 58) was generally thought to have been very poorly interpreted by the cellist, though the blame fell on Prokofiev for writing a "soul-less" concerto. The concerto was seldom played afterwards, until Prokofiev heard Rostropovich play it at a 1947 concert at the Moscow Conservatory. The performance reawakened Prokofiev's interest in the cello, and he rewrote his concerto (with advice from Rostropovich) to create the Symphony-Concerto (Op. 125). Also dating from this period are his cello sonata of 1949, and an unfinished concertino for cello and orchestra later completed by Kabalevsky.

ee also

* Grammy Awards of 1993, re. a prize-winning performance of this work by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; Yo-Yo Ma, Cellist; Lorin Maazel, Conductor.

Remarkable

In part 2, measure 453, Prokofiev seems to quote Dmitri Shostakovich's autograph, by letting the Violas and Celli the notes D-E flat-C-B. The E flat, stands for the letter 'S', and the B is called in German an 'H', Resulting in the initials D.Sch.)

Recordings

Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op.58----

Note that the Ivashkin recording is the first to record the complete, uncut original score. Further information can be found in Ivashkin's notes for the recording.

Sinfonia Concertante, Op.125

----