Prokofiev - Symphony No.6 In E Flat Minor Op.111; Three Waltzes Op.110 - Scottish National Orchestra, Neeme Järvi conductor / Chandos Audio CD 1985 / CHAN 8359

UPC 095115835920

The Symphony No. 6 in E-flat minor, Op. 111, by Sergei Prokofiev was completed and premiered in 1947. Sketches for the symphony exist as early as from June 1945; Prokofiev had reportedly begun work on it prior to composing his Fifth Symphony. He later remarked that the Sixth memorialized the victims of the Great Patriotic War.

Despite the enthusiastic interest of Alexander Gauk, Prokofiev instead chose to have the Sixth's premiere conducted by Yevgeny Mravinsky, who was impressed by the symphony after the composer played it for him. The premiere, which was played by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra on October 11, 1947, was a success. Initially, the symphony was received very warmly in the Soviet press; it was compared favorably with Dmitri Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony. In 1948, it came under attack during the Zhdanovschina, including from critics who had previously praised it.

After Prokofiev's death, the Sixth was rehabilitated in the Soviet Union. It also gained critical favor in the West, where reaction was mixed at first. According to Tempo, the Sixth is the "great, crowning" work of Prokofiev's symphonic output.

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