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Recently Reviewed...
Prokofiev: Songs and Romances / Yevtodieva...
Label: Delos
Catalog Num: 3275
Composer: Sergei Prokofiev
Artist: Victoria Yevtodieva (soprano), Liubov Sokolova (mezzo-soprano), et al.
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Put simply, this is one of the most important song recordings in recent years. It's important not simply because it's the first such collection of Prokofiev's complete output in the genre, but because the performances are uniformly excellent. Each of the five singers is simply superb. That they are so effective in repertory of such high quality makes this CD set a high priority on the list of anyone interested in 20th-century vocal music.
Prokofiev's operas, thanks mainly to Valery Gergiev, have now received some much deserved attention. But his seventy-plus songs are still largely neglected. At least until now. This CD set contains all of his original efforts with the exception of the five Kazakh songs of 1927, which were never published. Actually, they could well have been included since they are available in manuscript form, but then doing so would have necessitated a fourth disc and a higher asking price. They'll appear soon on another disc anyway-so why fret?
Here, we have seventy-two songs, most of inspired creation and a good many of masterful quality. If there is a more arrestingly serene song than Green Jar (track 11; disc 1), I haven't heard it. Actually, it's an arrangement of a traditional Russian song, but what Prokofiev does to it-and with all arrangements here-clearly makes it his own. Other gems on the first disc include the leadoff item, The Ugly Duckling, drawn on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, and, from the Op. 104 set of arrangements of Russian songs, The Monk (track 6), whose joyful theme was reused by Prokofiev in The Stone Flower ballet. Green Grove (track 7), also recycled by Prokofiev, this time in his opera The Story of a Real Man, is gloomy and beautiful, full of color and with an unforgettable melody. The Seven Songs, Op. 79, and the Three Children's Songs, Op. 68, close out this disc and also contain many charming offerings.
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