Symphony No. 1 \u2018Classical\u2019<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\nFor his \u2018Classical\u2019 Symphony of 1917, Prokofiev went back in time to the 18th century. \u2018I imagined if Haydn had lived to our day, he would surely have preserved his manner of writing,\u2019 Prokofiev explained, \u2018and at the same time would have absorbed something of the new. That was the kind of symphony I wanted to write: a symphony in the Classical style.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n
The opening Allegro<\/em> is on its very best behaviour, with both main ideas announced in spick-and-span fashion by the first violins. This bracing movement is peppered throughout with in-jokes for the cognoscenti, including the very opening, which mimics a crescendo device known as the \u2018Mannheim skyrocket\u2019, named after the city whose composers delighted in this exciting effect. The slow movement opens with a \u2018vamp-until-ready\u2019 figure before the violins soar away with one of Prokofiev\u2019s most radiantly lyrical ideas. The delightful Gavotte <\/em>third movement was later adapted by the composer as part of his classic ballet score, Romeo and Juliet<\/em>, while the finale is a moto perpetuo <\/em>of sparkling invention and insatiable optimism. <\/p>\n\nLudwig van Beethoven<\/strong><\/p>\n\nPiano Concerto No. 2<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\nBeethoven\u2019s Second Piano Concerto actually predates his First, yet it is still brimful of original touches. Aficionados at the time, for example, would have expected the opening movement\u2019s second theme to arrive in the \u2018correct\u2019 key of F major (the dominant of the home key, B flat), whereas Beethoven plunges us into the remote world of D flat! Although less dramatically signalled, the Adagio<\/em> slow movement has a central \u2018development\u2019 section that lasts a mere six bars. Then, as the main theme makes its expected reappearance, instead of leaving it unvarnished for the player to extemporise on in performance, Beethoven circumvents convention (and second-rate soloists) by writing out everything in full in the manuscript.<\/p>\n\nBeethoven saves his most hilarious piece of circumvention for the finale, in which the skipping main rondo theme sounds as though it should arrive before <\/em>the beat, but actually lands on <\/em>it. He eventually gets things sorted out towards the end with the expected upbeat, except now he\u2019s ended up in the \u2018wrong key\u2019 \u2013 G major. The world of music had been turned topsy-turvy in an instant.<\/p>\n\nSergei Rachmaninov<\/strong><\/p>\n\nPiano Concerto No. 2<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\nThe glorious melodic luxuriance of Rachmaninov\u2019s Second Piano Concerto feels so familiar, it is easy to forget how revolutionary it felt back at the turn of the 20th century. No one had heard anything quite like it before, least of all from Rachmaninov, whose last major work \u2013 his First Symphony \u2013 was a Sturm und Drang <\/em>blockbuster, fuelled by angular and uncompromising thematic angst. <\/p>\n\nRachmaninov\u2019s change in style owed much to the experiences of his formative years. The wide-open spaces of the large country estate he was brought up on found a natural outlet in freshly expansive melodies. His fixation with the sound of bells, which as a child were employed as signals, alarms and calls to worship, haunt the concerto\u2019s opening chords, which not only emulate their relentless tolling, but also their colossal swaying motion. No less potent was the sound of ancient chants that echoed around Rachmaninov during boyhood church services. Their stepwise motion and slowly uncoiling shape, preponderantly in the middle-to-lower registers, made such an impact on the concerto\u2019s melodic writing that at times one can almost smell the incense burning. <\/p>\n\n
Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Chopin<\/strong><\/p>\n\nNocturne No. 20, Op. posth<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\nLars Vogt finishes with an enchanting solo piano encore. Chopin took the nocturne to a pinnacle unmatched by any composer, producing a total of 21 miniatures between 1827 and 1848. Incredibly, the C sharp minor Nocturne of 1830, one of the most popular of the series, was first published in 1870, more than two decades after Chopin\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n
Julian Haylock<\/em><\/p>\n\nArtist biography<\/h3>\n\nLARS VOGT<\/strong> (piano and conductor)<\/em><\/p>\n\nFor more than 30 years, Lars Vogt enjoyed major success as both a pianist and conductor. Born in D\u00fcren, Germany, in 1970, he sprang to prominence when he won second prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition in 1990. From 2015-20, he was music director of the Royal Northern Sinfonia, and thereafter held the post of principal artistic partner. He was also music director of the Orchestre de chambre de Paris until his death in September 2022.<\/p>\n\n
JAKUB HR\u016e\u0160A <\/strong>(conductor)<\/em><\/p>\n\nChief conductor of the Bamberg Symphony in Germany, the Brno-born Jakub Hr\u016f\u0161a is also principal guest conductor of the Philharmonia and the Czech Philharmonic orchestras. A specialist in Czech repertoire in particular, in 2020 he won BBC Music Magazine Awards for his recordings of Dvo\u0159\u00e1k and Martin\u016f Piano Concertos (with pianist Ivo Kah\u00e1nek and the Bamberg Symphony) and Barber\u2019s opera Vanessa<\/em> from Glyndebourne.<\/p>\n\nROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA<\/strong><\/p>\n\nFounded in 1958, the Royal Northern Sinfonia is one of the UK\u2019s leading professional chamber ensembles \u2013 previously the Northern Sinfonia, it had the \u2018Royal\u2019 bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II in 2013. In September 2021, Dinis Sousa took over from Lars Vogt as chief conductor, joining a prestigious list that includes Richard Hickox, John Wilson and Thomas Zehetmair. Resident orchestra at the Sage Gateshead since 2004, it has recorded widely for labels including Chandos, Naxos and Ondine.<\/p>\n\n
ON YOUR COVER CD Remembering a great all-round musician Julian Haylock introduces the works performed on our disc by the much-loved pianist and conductor Lars Vogt Sergei Prokofiev Symphony No. 1, \u2018Classical\u2019* Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2* Sergei Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2** Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Chopin Nocturne in C sharp minor ArtistsLars Vogt (piano)*Royal 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YOUR COVER CD Remembering a great all-round musician Julian Haylock introduces the works performed on our disc by the much-loved pianist and conductor Lars Vogt Sergei Prokofiev Symphony No. 1, \u2018Classical\u2019* Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2* Sergei Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2** Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Chopin Nocturne in C sharp minor ArtistsLars Vogt 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