# Prokofiev Symphony 5 -- favorite recording?



## WildThing

I'm thinking of collecting a few more recordings of this masterpiece and would love to hear everyone's picks for their favorite interpretations. :tiphat:


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## realdealblues

The first 5 that come to mind for me are:

Bernstein/New York Philharmonic
Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic
Previn/London Symphony Orchestra
Jarvi/Scottish National Orchestra
Muti/Philadelphia Orchestra

Each of those recordings are excellent and worth hearing in my book.


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## D Smith

I can also recommend Bernstein and Muti. Also worth hearing is Tennstedt with the Bavarians and an early Rattle recording with Birmingham.


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## Rmathuln

realdealblues said:


> The first 5 that come to mind for me are:
> 
> Bernstein/New York Philharmonic
> Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic
> Previn/London Symphony Orchestra
> Jarvi/Scottish National Orchestra
> Muti/Philadelphia Orchestra
> 
> Each of those recordings are excellent and worth hearing in my book.


I would add

Schippers/Philharmonia on Medici Arts
Celibidache/SWRSO on DG


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## Vasks

I grew up with Ormandy and still love it


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## Heck148

Levine/CSO - awesome, in very good sound [DG]
Rozhd'sky/USSR
Reiner/CSO - live from 58 iirc - wonderful performance, sound isn't the greatest, but it's ok [available on CSO Archival set <CSO First 100 Years>]


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## Merl

Litton
Jarvi
Karajan

... But there are other worthy contenders, too.


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## david johnson

Kletzki/Philharmonia
Szell/Cleveland


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## Kiki

I suppose one cannot go wrong with Karajan/BPO 68 (DG) or Järvi/SNO 85 (Chandos).

Here's the bombshell, I agree Celibidache/SWRStuttgart 79 (DG) ought to be heard. Slow? Yes, but there's a kind of fluency in it. Not my everyday Prokofiev though TBH.

Mitropoulos, Leinsdorf and Mravinsky had a way about what grit means. (Beware, Leinsdorf is slow.) 

I have a soft spot for the "sensitive" Jansons/Leningrad 87 (Chandos), but not so much affection for his rather sluggish Concertgebouw remake.


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## Brahmsianhorn




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## Heck148

david johnson said:


> Kletzki/Philharmonia


That Kletzki/PO one is quite good, despite some amazing clarinet slurps in the last movement..!!


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## DarkAngel

Jarvi series on Chandos universally great for symphonies and many other misc orchestral, ballet suites etc










There is a lesser known complete symphony set by *Jean Martinon *on two off label 2CD sets very cheap at Amazon, these are really first class performance and easily surpass most of the better known rivals boxsets - Gergiev, Ozawa, Weller etc


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## KenOC

My go-to cycle. Seems a bit hard to find right now.


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## Red Terror

KenOC said:


> My go-to cycle. Seems a bit hard to find right now.


What do you think of Karajan's recording of Symphonies Nos. 1 & 5?

:lol:


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## KenOC

Red Terror said:


> What do you think of Karajan's recording of Symphonies Nos. 1 & 5?
> 
> :lol:


Not familiar with them. I'm sure they're quite good.


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## Kiki

KenOC said:


> Not familiar with them. I'm sure they're quite good.


Allow me to jump in... regarding Karajan's Prokofiev 1 & 5,

No. 5 - Glorious and magnificent. (I guess at least there probably won't be much dispute that it's good)
No. 1 - Glossy and magnified. (Good or bad depends on what one makes of the "Karajan sound")


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## Red Terror

KenOC said:


> My go-to cycle. Seems a bit hard to find right now.


I have this set and it is superb. I am not even a Prokofiev fan.


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## bigshot

My favorite Prokofiev 5 is Bernstein / Israel Philharmonic. To me, it's perfect.


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## Heck148

KenOC said:


> My go-to cycle. Seems a bit hard to find right now.


I've got this set - overall, very good - esp 2,3,4,6....


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## Brahmsian Colors

Paul Kletzki with the Philharmonia Orchestra


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## vsm

Yes, I second the recording of the Philadephia Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti:

https://www.amazon.com/Prokofiev-Symphony-Classical-Fiery-Angel/dp/B00000E4V8

That's a really good version of it.


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## Dennis Scheel

WildThing said:


> I'm thinking of collecting a few more recordings of this masterpiece and would love to hear everyone's picks for their favorite interpretations. :tiphat:


You can't go wrong with Charles Dutoit's 1988 Montreal Symphony London Decca version. This work prominently features the Tuba (not so much as melodic instrument but as a dominant bass instrument), and this happened to be Ellis Weans final recording with the orchestra before he was removed (for reasons not related to his ability to play). Every other recording or live performance I've heard of this fails to address the tubas role in the work. Also, my favourite part is the final 3 chords of the first movement (which are quite complex in design and as such must be properly balanced and tuned to sound good) are unmatched.


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## perdido34

Szell/Cleveland, as remastered, is an exciting performance in very good sound.


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## sstucky

Koussevitzsky 1946.


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## Guest

Alsop/Sao Paolo
Oramo/Finnish Radio Symphony


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## Mathias Broucek

Someone mentioned Celi earlier

The Munich version is good too and not too slow. (The coupled Classical isn't at all good- stick to the 1940s Berlin versions!)


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## flamencosketches

Any love for Michael Tilson Thomas/London SO? I just got it at the shop for cheap, but have yet to listen. To be honest, I've never even heard Prokofiev's 5th.


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## Brahmsianhorn

sstucky said:


> Koussevitzsky 1946.


Yes this. One of the great Prokofiev recordings along with Kapell's Piano Concerto No 3.


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## Brahmsianhorn

Oh, and the Thomas Schippers NYPO Alexander Nevsky. Fantastic performance. Better than Reiner IMO (and sung in actual Russian).


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## Knorf

flamencosketches said:


> Any love for Michael Tilson Thomas/London SO? I just got it at the shop for cheap, but have yet to listen. To be honest, I've never even heard Prokofiev's 5th.


I'm sure it's at least very good; MTT is the consummate professional. Whether it will have the final, crucial bit of inspired fire: that is the question. Do report back after you listen.

My reference Prokofiev 5s:
Gergiev/LSO
Karajan/Berlin
Muti/Philadelphia
Temirkanov/St. Petersburg


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## NLAdriaan

Knorf said:


> I'm sure it's at least very good; MTT is the consummate professional. Whether it will have the final, crucial bit of inspired fire: that is the question. Do report back after you listen.
> 
> My reference Prokofiev 5s:
> Gergiev/LSO
> Karajan/Berlin
> Muti/Philadelphia
> Temirkanov/St. Petersburg


Good that you mention the Gergiev LSO cycle, which is my no 1 Prokofiev cycle. It is not or hardly mentioned here. I would add Jansons/Leningrad/Chandos to my list instead of Muti.


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## Mathias Broucek

NLAdriaan said:


> Good that you mention the Gergiev LSO cycle, which is my no 1 Prokofiev cycle. It is not or hardly mentioned here. I would add Jansons/Leningrad/Chandos to my list instead of Muti.


Yes to both those

I was lucky enough to see Jansons do the 5th with BRSO in London a couple of years ago


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## Knorf

NLAdriaan said:


> Good that you mention the Gergiev LSO cycle, which is my no 1 Prokofiev cycle. It is not or hardly mentioned here. I would add Jansons/Leningrad/Chandos to my list instead of Muti.


The Gergiev/LSO is mine, too! I was somewhat surprised to read fairly strong disapprobation from certain members here. I think it has all the ingredients for excellent Prokofiev. Most conductors do well with the lyrical side but miss the acerbic or tragic side, others get the acerbic side but miss the lyric or tragic, etc. And those are commonly layered or juxtaposed in quick succession, the changes of affect. But only a few conductors manage to sustain one layer as lyrical while another layer is tearing away at the scenery; more typically one or the other layer lost, but Gergiev is great at reveling in and revealing these adjunct phrase contrasts.

You know, I have no problem adding the Jansons at all. Terrific performance! I don't why I never picked it up; I heard it first at a friend's house. (On a side note, one I have not heard is Jansons/Concertgebuow, on the RCO label. It seems to have mixed reviews. Any good?)

And there's a thing I miss! I've had a few friends who were as into classical recordings as we are here at TC, and used to go to each other's houses to played recordings at each other. I love doing that! But, people move away, and now with the pandemic, we haven't had anyone over in months now, or been anywhere.  It's probably a big part of the reason I've thrown myself into this forum.


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## Allegro Con Brio

^I’ve thrown myself into the forum because I have an immense passion shared by nobody else I know, and I need a place to vent it What you described (going to a friend’s house to listen to recordings) sounds so awesome. I hope the listening groups here at TC exude a similar vibe


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## Knorf

Allegro Con Brio said:


> ^I've thrown myself into the forum because I have an immense passion shared by nobody else I know, and I need a place to vent it What you described (going to a friend's house to listen to recordings) sounds so awesome.


It's really fun. My best friend in high school, who is now a fairly well-known conductor, and I used to go to each to other's houses almost every day after school to listen to recordings of Classical music. Picture the following conversation:

Knorf, who is very late for dinner, sheepishly walks in to the dining room.

My mom, fearing I've been up to no good: "Where have you been? Why are you late for dinner?!"

Knorf: "I was at my friend's house."

Mom: "And exactly what were you doing?"

Knorf: "Listing to Dvořák's Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70..." (I always prided myself in knowing those little details.)

[beat]

Mom: "Well, ok. But call ahead next time!"



> I hope the listening groups here at TC exude a similar vibe


It does help.


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## Merl

^ You were a bit of a wild child, weren't you, Knorf?


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## Kiki

Here's an interesting Prokofiev 5th, Jurowski and the Russian National Orchestra on PenaTone.

It's got musical phasing and beautiful playing, and it seems like a lot of care has gone into every note. Early climaxes are kept in check so the adrenaline level does not peak too early. The down side is that I almost ran out of patience in the first movement before the final bang. Orchestral balance is excellent, and I'm really happy to hear the piano and the wood block clearly. However, compared to some of the older recordings from the likes of Leinsdorf, Mitropoulos or Mravinsky, there is an obvious lack of grit or highlights of "sight-seeing" features along the journey. Put it another way, it can sound boring. And I did felt like that when I first heard this account. It's only after a few more tries I began to appreciate the sensitivity side of it. Jurowski is pretty much a maverick conductor IMHO, and it does sound unusual, and I found that interesting.

I envy you, Knorf. In real life I do not know anyone who's interested in classical music. Sometimes I feel slightly disillusioned that perhaps all of you here at TC are A.I. (Please don't get offended, it is a joke...) I do have several audiophile friends in reality, with whom we visit one another's home frequently. Unfortunately, listening to music is a no no. To them "listening to music" means either 1) listening to the difference in sound reproduced by different equipment, or 2) reading (or playing mobile games) with ambient sound put on in the background.

I did come across a few guys who were interested in classical music during my university days years ago. Once we were comparing Mahler 6 recordings of Barbirolli and Karajan in someone's room, and two guys started debating which is better. (Imagine the language that students prefer to use back in the 80s.) When they turned to me and asked me what I thought, I knew I was destined to lose, as you can't please everybody. In subsequent years I've learnt nothing is perfect in life and it's better to focus on the good bits. :lol:


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## Knorf

Merl said:


> ^ You were a bit of a wild child, weren't you, Knorf?


Wild beyond your dreams.



Kiki said:


> Here's an interesting Prokofiev 5th, Jurowski and the Russian National Orchestra on PenaTone.


This one is on my last. I'm all for non-scenery chewing in music, and being patient with climactic moments, so perhaps this one will work for me.


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## Merl

Kiki said:


> I envy you, Knorf. In real life I do not know anyone who's interested in classical music. Sometimes I feel slightly disillusioned that perhaps all of you here at TC are A.I. (Please don't get offended, it is a joke...) I do have several audiophile friends in reality, with whom we visit one another's home frequently. Unfortunately, listening to music is a no no. To them "listening to music" means either 1) listening to the difference in sound reproduced by different equipment, or 2) reading (or playing mobile games) with ambient sound put on in the background.


I agree, Kiki, it would be nice to pop around to someone's house and listen to some music (I have no local acquaintances that like what I do) but at least social media has given me the chance to talk about music and recordings, in real time, with like-minded people from this site. You know who you are! :wave:


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## Kiki

I feel the same, Merl. That got me thinking. Is it possible to host a virtual group listening session via the internet?

I do not know but I doubt there is any video conferencing software that, in addition to allowing participants to talk at the same time, would play a music stream in the background in a quality good enough for critical listening. 

Taking a step back - There are various free radio broadcasting software that can obviously synchronize the playback of a music file across all participants in a reasonable sound quality and transmission latency. That should solve the problem of playback.

However using an additional video conferencing tool to let participants talk may pose a problem, as the video conferencing tool may capture the music playback in the background and broadcast it to other participants, and that gets captured and broadcasted again, hence creating a forever-loop that could mess up the conferencing stream. Taking another step back, using a chat tool instead of a conferencing tool to restrict the conversation to words-only may solve this problem, but in that case I won't be able to hear your gorgeous voice and everybody will have to type.

.... Just a thought. I think that's far too complicated and probably not spontaneous enough. :lol:

A blindcomp, or the format of the blindcomps that we've done, could be a much simpler solution, although the down side is that the listening will not be synchronised, but then that's probably more practical for people who live in different time zones... Come to think about it, should we do a Prokofiev 5 blincomp?

Sorry, I've gone way off-topic. I'll stop.


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## Merl

Kiki said:


> I feel the same, Merl. That got me thinking. Is it possible to host a virtual group listening session via the internet?
> 
> I do not know but I doubt there is any video conferencing software that, in addition to allowing participants to talk at the same time, would play a music stream in the background in a quality good enough for critical listening.
> 
> Taking a step back - There are various free radio broadcasting software that can obviously synchronize the playback of a music file across all participants in a reasonable sound quality and transmission latency. That should solve the problem of playback.
> 
> However using an additional video conferencing tool to let participants talk may pose a problem, as the video conferencing tool may capture the music playback in the background and broadcast it to other participants, and that gets captured and broadcasted again, hence creating a forever-loop that could mess up the conferencing stream. Taking another step back, using a chat tool instead of a conferencing tool to restrict the conversation to words-only may solve this problem, but in that case I won't be able to hear your gorgeous voice and everybody will have to type.
> 
> .... Just a thought. I think that's far too complicated and probably not spontaneous enough. :lol:
> 
> A blindcomp, or the format of the blindcomps that we've done, could be a much simpler solution, although the down side is that the listening will not be synchronised, but then that's probably more practical for people who live in different time zones... Come to think about it, should we do a Prokofiev 5 blincomp?
> 
> Sorry, I've gone way off-topic. I'll stop.


Interesting thought, Kiki. I'll look into it (unless we have even more technically adept members who can suggest something). And no, IRC will not cut the mustard. Lol


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## jegreenwood

Kiki said:


> I feel the same, Merl. That got me thinking. Is it possible to host a virtual group listening session via the internet?
> 
> I do not know but I doubt there is any video conferencing software that, in addition to allowing participants to talk at the same time, would play a music stream in the background in a quality good enough for critical listening.
> 
> Taking a step back - There are various free radio broadcasting software that can obviously synchronize the playback of a music file across all participants in a reasonable sound quality and transmission latency. That should solve the problem of playback.
> 
> However using an additional video conferencing tool to let participants talk may pose a problem, as the video conferencing tool may capture the music playback in the background and broadcast it to other participants, and that gets captured and broadcasted again, hence creating a forever-loop that could mess up the conferencing stream. Taking another step back, using a chat tool instead of a conferencing tool to restrict the conversation to words-only may solve this problem, but in that case I won't be able to hear your gorgeous voice and everybody will have to type.
> 
> .... Just a thought. I think that's far too complicated and probably not spontaneous enough. :lol:
> 
> A blindcomp, or the format of the blindcomps that we've done, could be a much simpler solution, although the down side is that the listening will not be synchronised, but then that's probably more practical for people who live in different time zones... Come to think about it, should we do a Prokofiev 5 blincomp?
> 
> Sorry, I've gone way off-topic. I'll stop.


I am taking a (now) online music analysis course using Zoom. Our teacher will lead a discussion and then play a portion of the music we are discussing (currently Schubert's B-Flat Trio). He does this by having Zoom take over our video and audio, so the audio and video on his computer is seen/heard on our devices (computer/tablet/smartphone). Plug in a good pair of headphones or connect to some decent powered speakers or (getting real fancy) a DAC/amplifier/speaker set-up and the sound can be quite listenable.

The only downside - his screen (and thus mine) is always displaying that stupid iTunes interface.

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362153-Sharing-your-screen-in-a-meeting


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## Acadarchist

Picked up at a local charity shop. Not one of the accepted top renditions perhaps, but I enjoyed it.


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## joen_cph

Schippers' 5th probably most satisfying for me so far.


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