Prokofiev - Symphony nr. 4 (1930 version)

I've always been aware of the link between Prokofiev's Fourth Symphony and his Prodigal Son ballet. But when hearing the piano transcription I was struck by how closely related they are. So I wanted to listen once more to the Fourth. There are two versions: the original, op. 47, dating from 1930 (closely following the composition of the ballet, or having been composed alongside it), and then a substantial revision from 1947 (op. 112). I listened to the original version which is, I think, the lesser played. Some reputedly complete surveys of his symphonies do not even include the work (as, for example, the Ozawa set on DGG). There's an interesting contribution on wikipedia which gives quite a bit of background (an interesting factoid being that the European premiere of the work took place in Brussels, under Pierre Monteux). 

I started with an Erato (now Warner) recording by Rostropovich and the Orchestre Nationale de France (from the mid-1980s), part of a complete cycle. Good sound and surprisingly idiomatic playing but Rostropovich's very slow tempi make this a less interesting proposition. Järvi, in an early Chandos recording (also early 80s), steers a very different course. Reading and recording lack refinement but they make for good fun anyway. It's a brash, agressive affair that connects more to the chromatic excesses of the Third. There's some terrific, raucous playing of the brass. The most compelling interpretation comes from Dmitri Kitajenko and the Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra. I've been struck before (notably in Conlon's recording of Hartmann's Second and Fourth Symphony) by the qualities of this second tier orchestra. It's not one of the top drawer ensembles in Germany, but I find it plays with remarkable body and finesse. Also this Prokofiev Fourth is sumptuously presented. Kitajenko is closer to Rostropovich in spirit than Järvi. His reading looks forward to the more sedate style of the composer's Soviet years. But his tempos are better judged than those of his countryman. And so the two-faced, ambivalent character of this work - as a hinge between Prokofiev's Western and Russian period - is very well epitomised in the contrast between the Järvi and Kitajenko recordings.

The Fourth is not a great work, however. Prokofiev may have squeezed the first movement and finale into a sonata form, that doesn't make it a true symphony. To me it continues to sound episodic. But I am very happy to concede that the episodes, on the whole, are marvelously entertaining and charming to listen to. Prokofiev's melodic gift is very much on display and it is nicely counterbalanced by the piquancy of the machine-like ostinati of the Allegro eroico and the toccata-like material from the finale.

It seems to me that only Prokofiev's three last symphonies can be considered truly great. The earlier works lack authenticity and substance and seem to be more about assuming a symphonic pose ("look how naughty or clever I can be!"). I'm curious now to listen to the revised version of the Fourth as well. I'm tempted to play out Kitajenko vs Järvi again.