Prokofiev Symphony No. 6 - Lieutenant Kije Suite - The Love for Three Oranges Suite Andrew Litton & Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra

• 1 I. Allegro moderato 14:19
• 2 II. Largo 15:52
• 3 III. Vivace 11:55
• 4 I. The Birth of Kije 04:18
• 5 II. Romance 04:05
• 6 III. The Wedding of Kije 02:44
• 7 IV. Troika 02:49
• 8 V. The Interment of Kije 05:34
• 9 I. The Clowns 02:57
• 10 II. The Magician and the Witch play cards 03:39
• 11 III. March 01:47
• 12 IV. Scherzo 01:27
• 13 V. The Prince and Princess 03:54
• 14 VI. The Flight 02:10
• Total Runtime 01:17:30

Info for Prokofiev Symphony No. 6 - Lieutenant Kije Suite - The Love for Three Oranges Suite

A popular programme of works including the orchestral suite for the film score of Lieutenant Kijé. The original film score contains two songs which are often performed by solo saxophone and orchestra but are recorded here in their original (but seldom heard) version for baritone voice.

With acclaimed previous recordings of music by Prokofiev, as well as Stravinsky, Mendelssohn and most recently Rachmaninov, Andrew Litton and his Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra are a tried-and-tested team in this repertoire. They make the most of the enormous palette of colours and moods provided by these three scores.

Premièred in January 1945, Sergei Prokofiev’s optimistic and heroic Fifth Symphony had seemed to herald the victorious end of World War Two. In stark contrast to this, his Symphony No.6, which received its first performance in 1947, is one of his deepest and most personal works. Although it was greeted with enthusiasm by the audience, the Soviet authorities were critical of the work and in 1948 a Party resolution singled it out as ‘abnormal’ and ‘repellent’. In fact, the first ideas for the symphony preceded those for the Fifth, and date from a period when the issue of the war was still uncertain.

Early in 1945 the composer had suffered a collapse, from which he never completely recovered and which forced him to live the life of an invalid with almost constant headaches. In regard to the work, Prokofiev himself stated: ‘Now we are rejoicing in our great victory, but each of us has wounds that cannot be healed.’ This haunted symphony is here coupled with two works which illustrate a very different side of the composer, his gift for creating vivid musical images that can sum up a scene in a few bold strokes. These are the ever-popular suites from The Love for Three Oranges, the tragic-comical opera from 1921, and from the film score to Lieutenant Kijé, a light-hearted satire from 1934.

The original film score included two songs, which form the second and fourth movements of the concert suite. Often performed in a version for solo saxophone and orchestra, these are heard in this recording in their original vocal form, performed by the Ukranian baritone Andrei Bondarenko. With acclaimed previous recordings of music by Prokofiev, as well as by Stravinsky and Rachmaninov, Andrew Litton and his Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra are a tried-and-tested team in this repertoire, and once again make the most of the enormous palette of colours and moods provided by these three scores.

“Melancholy and menace...Litton shows profound sympathy for both of them...The orchestra seems to have flourished durings its decade under Litton: its sheen is seductive, balances and ensemble are expert, dynamics are artfully shaded and the solo parts are delivered with sensitivity and colour...an auspicious release.” (International Record Review)

„This is the best recorded sound this symphony has received to date...Litton knows exactly how to make the most of it, when to dwell on detail and when to propel the argument forward...Litton directs the symphonic suite with a close eye on the rhythmic subtleties of Prokofiev's score.” (MusicWeb International)

Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Andrew Litton, conductor

January 2012 at Grieghallen, Bergen, Norway
Engineered: Hans Kipfer
Editing: Elisabeth Kemper
Mixing: Ingo Petry
Producer: Ingo Petry
Executive Producer: Robert Suff

Andrew Litton
Music Director of Norway’s Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Artistic Director of the Minnesota Orchestra’s Sommerfest, and Conductor Laureate of Britain’s Bournemouth Symphony, recently also became Music Director of the Colorado Symphony. He guest conducts the world’s leading orchestras and opera companies and has a discography of over 120 recordings with awards including America’s Grammy, France’s Diapason d’Or, and many British and other honors.

First appointed Bergen Philharmonic Music Director in 2003, Litton will celebrate the orchestra’s 250th Anniversary in 2015. It is one of the world’s longest established orchestras. In recognition of Litton’s achievements with the Bergen Philharmonic, Norway’s King Harald knighted Litton with the Royal Order of Merit. Under Litton the Bergen Philharmonic has taken numerous tours, including debuts at the London BBC Proms and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, as well as appearances at Vienna’s Musikverein, Berlin’s Philharmonie, and New York’s Carnegie Hall - the capstone of its first American tour in 40 years. Litton and the Bergen Philharmonic record for the BIS and Hyperion labels, winning extraordinary critical acclaim for their Mendelssohn, Stravinsky, and Prokofiev series.

After opening the 2013-14 season in Bergen and Denver, Litton returns to the orchestras of Dallas, Detroit, Minnesota, the English Chamber Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony, and the Bournemouth Symphony. He also leads the Royal Philharmonic on tour to Bucharest. His calendar includes debuts with the Singapore Symphony and the National Taiwan Symphony.

After collaborating in his student days as piano soloist with the legendary Rudolph Nureyev and Natalia Makarova, Litton returns to ballet to conduct the New York City Ballet’s new production of Delibes Coppélia.

Conductor of many of the world’s top opera companies including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera Covent Garden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and the Australian Opera, Litton participated with the Bergen Philharmonic in founding the Bergen National Opera. Now its Artistic Advisor, Litton has conducted critically acclaimed, sold-out performances of Tosca, Carmen, The Flying Dutchman, and La Bohème. This season he conducts a new production of Fidelio, directed by Oskaras Korsunovas.

An accomplished pianist, Litton often conducts from the keyboard and enjoys performing chamber music with his orchestra colleagues. Litton is recognized as an authority on Gershwin, having extensively performed and recorded as pianist and conductor Gershwin’s works in America, Asia and Europe. He led the Covent Garden premiere of Porgy and Bess and arranged his own concert Suite of that work now performed throughout the world. The University of Michigan has asked Litton to join a distinguished panel of Gershwin experts in developing a Critical Edition of all Gershwin works. Passionate about the music and playing of the late Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, Litton just recorded his first solo piano album, a Tribute to Oscar Peterson, to be released this season.

Litton was Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony from 1988-1994, bringing it on its first American tour and producing 14 recordings, including the Grammy winning Belshazzar’s Feast. Music Director of the Dallas Symphony from 1994-2006, he hired over one third of the players, led the orchestra on three major European tours, appeared four times at Carnegie Hall, created a children’s television series broadcast nationally and in widespread use in school curricula, produced 28 recordings, and helped raise the orchestra’s endowment from $19 million to $100 million. Litton’s Dallas Symphony Rachmaninov Piano Concerto recordings with Stephen Hough, widely hailed as the best since the composer’s own, won the Classical Brits/BBC Critics Award. Litton also received a Grammy nomination for his recording of Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd with the New York Philharmonic and Patti Lupone.

Andrew Litton, a graduate of the Fieldston School, New York, received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Juilliard in piano and conducting. The youngest-ever winner of the BBC International Conductors Competition, he served as Assistant Conductor at Teatro alla Scala and Exxon/Arts Endowment Assistant Conductor for the National Symphony under Rostropovich. His many honors in addition to Norway’s Royal Order of Merit include an honorary Doctorate from the University of Bournemouth, Yale University’s Sanford Medal, and the Elgar Society Medal.

Booklet for Prokofiev Symphony No. 6 - Lieutenant Kije Suite - The Love for Three Oranges Suite