# 100 Favorites: # 61



## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

*Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5
Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (DG)*










When I was compiling my list of favorites, I had a difficult time deciding which Prokofiev symphonies to include. I considered Rozhdestvensky's Moscow Radio SO Fourth (Melodiya) and Walter Weller's London PO Sixth (Decca). Both ended up getting the last-second axe as I culled the list down to 100. On the other hand, I couldn't part ways with Karajan's BPO Fifth. It's a legendary recording, and I've loved it since my grad school days. It was the first Prokofiev recording I ever purchased. (My LP still has the "London Music & Video Exchange" sticker on it. Initially marked at £17, the price had been slashed to 50p by the time I bought it.) Unlike the Shostakovich symphony that I described earlier today, Karajan's Prokofiev Fifth is readily available in digital format. It's been reissued as part of DG's "Originals" series, coupled with HvK's 1977 recording of Stravinsky's _Rite of Spring_.


----------

