Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower Gianandrea Noseda

• Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953): The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Prologue:
• 1 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Prologue: The Mistress of the Copper Mountain 04:15
• 2 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Prologue: Danilo and his work 02:39
• 3 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act I Scene 1: Danilo in search of the stone flower 02:17
• 4 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act I Scene 1: Danilo meets his fellow villagers 02:09
• 5 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act I Scene 1: Scene and duet of Katerina and Danilo 05:15
• 6 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act I Scene 1: Interlude I. Severyan and the workers 03:16
• 7 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act I Scene 2: Round dance 02:46
• 8 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act I Scene 2: Katerina bids farewell to her friends 02:17
• 9 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act I Scene 2: Maiden's dance 04:25
• 10 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act I Scene 2: Danilo's dance 01:27
• 11 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act I Scene 2: Unmarried men's dance 01:35
• 12 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act I Scene 2: Severyan's arrival 03:35
• 13 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act I Scene 2: Altercation over the malachite vase 04:49
• 14 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act I Scene 2: Scene of Katerina and Danilo 02:24
• 15 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act I Scene 2: Danilo's thoughts 03:04
• 16 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act I Scene 3: Danilo enticed away by the Mistress of the Copper Mountain 05:31
• 17 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act II Scene 4: The Mistress shows Danilo the treasures of the earth 02:05
• 18 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act II Scene 4: Duet of the Mistress and Danilo (First Temptation) 05:04
• 19 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act II Scene 4: Scene and Waltz of the Diamonds (Second Temptation) 05:27
• 20 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act II Scene 4: Dance of the Russian precious stones (Third Temptation) 04:05
• 21 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act II Scene 4: Waltz 04:14
• 22 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act II Scene 4: Danilo's monologue and the Mistress's reply 01:56
• 23 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act II Scene 4: The Mistress shows Danilo the stone flower 02:15
• 24 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act II Scene 4: Severyan and the workers. The Mistress's warning 03:01
• 25 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act II Scene 5: Scene and Katerina's dance (Thinking of Danilo) 03:51
• 26 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act II Scene 5: Severyan's arrival 02:02
• 27 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act II Scene 5: Where are you, sweet Danilo? 01:27
• 28 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act II Scene 5: The appearance of the Mistress and Katerina's joy 02:28
• 29 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act III Scene 6: Ural Rhapsody 08:41
• 30 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act III Scene 6: Interlude II 07:04
• 31 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act III Scene 6: Russian dance 04:13
• 32 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act III Scene 7: Gypsy dance 03:14
• 33 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act III Scene 7: Severyan's dance 01:47
• 34 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act III Scene 7: Solo of the gypsy girl and Coda 03:58
• 35 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act III Scene 7: Katerina's appearance and Severyan's rage 02:07
• 36 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act III Scene 7: The appearance of the Mistress and Scene of Severyan transfixed 01:06
• 37 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act III Scene 7: Severyan follows the Mistress 02:06
• 38 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act III Scene 7: Severyan's death 02:10
• 39 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act III Scene 8: Katerina sits by the fire and yearns for Danilo 01:43
• 40 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act III Scene 8: Scene and Katerina's dance with the skipping fire-spirit 03:07
• 41 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act III Scene 8: Katerina follows the fire-spirit 01:33
• 42 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act III Scene 9: Katerina's dialogue with the Mistress 03:29
• 43 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act III Scene 9: Danilo turned to stone 03:27
• 44 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act III Scene 9: The joy of Katerina and Danilo's reunion 04:16
• 45 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act III Scene 9: The Mistress presents gifts to Katerina and Danilo 03:08
• 46 Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118, Act III Scene 9: Epilogue 01:31
• Total Runtime 02:28:19

Info for Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower

Sergei Prokofiev conceived the Stone Flower as a grand ballet in the tradition of Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake. Originally, Prokofiev had a different subject in mind - Pushkin's The Stone Guest - but chose a national ballet following the infamous Zhdanov degree of 1948. However, Prokofiev had more than a passing interest in the story, set the Urals, as he had traveled in the area as a young man and had been impressed by the beauty of the mountains. The music was composed between 1948 and 1953. Prokofiev completed the orchestration just hours before his death. The premiere was held on February 12, 1954 by the Bolshoi Ballet. The ballet takes its inspiration from folk tales by the Ural author Pavel Bazhov and centers on the stonecutter Danilo, who temporarily forsakes his betrothed, Katerina, to accompany the Mistress of Copper Mountain to her realm. There, the Mistress shows him a legendary flower made of stone. Danilo becomes determined to carve one like it in malachite, a deep green, marble-like mineral native to Russia. In the meantime, Iatarina is harassed by the story's villain, the drunken Severyan. To the rescue comes the Mistress of Copper Mountain, who captures him and compels the ground to open and swallow Severyan whole. Katarina searches for Danilo and finds him, but their reunion is spoiled when the Mistress becomes upset that he wants to leave the mountain paradise now that he has learned the secret of making the stone flower. Briefly, Danilo himself is turned to stone. In the end, however, Danilo gains the Mistress' respect through his love for and fidelity to Katarina, and the lovers depart to live happily ever after. The Stone Flower has generally been neglected with few recordings of the complete ballet. The music is usually recorded in excerpts with the Ural Rhapsody from act three, always being included as a highlight. The ballet has more of the divertissement dances of traditional full-length Russian ballets than Prokofiev included in Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella, so there are memorable dances and more reworking of prior melodies. The ballet is very tuneful, with twenty or more memorable melodies. Some of the music was recycled from earlier Prokofiev works: the festive No. 7, Round Dance, is borrowed from the film score for Ivan the Terrible; Nos. 14 Katerina and Danilo, and 19, Waltz of the Diamonds, are sourceful in Music for Children, for piano, Op. 65. Prokofiev's orchestration is colorful, sometimes exotic, particularly in the Russian and Gypsy dances.

"... What a glorious recording! ... The rich, full-range, balanced dynamics in Manchester's New Broadcasting House make not only the BBC Philharmonic's string but especially the brass sound sumptuous... This is a fabulous album." (Gil French, American Record Guide)

'This is one to savour'' (BBC Music Magazine)

"But the on-form BBC Philharmonic surpasses those curently unavailable issues. Its lyrical playing is as sensuous and rapturous as the score demands, and its woodwind and brass colours are touched in with unerring precision, while Chandos' recording is, as so often, in the luxury class." (International Record Review)

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda, conductor

Gianandrea Noseda

Music Director of the Teatro Regio in Turin (TRT) Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Victor De Sabata Guest Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Principal Conductor of the Orquesta de Cadaqués Artistic Director of the Stresa Festival

Gianandrea Noseda became the first foreign Principal Guest Conductor at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in 1997 where he also set up with Valery Gergiev the ‘Mariinsky Young Philharmonic Orchestra’, and served as its Principal Conductor. Principal Guest Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic (1999-2003) and of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI (2003-2006).

Born in Milan, Gianandrea Noseda appears all over the world with orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony,the Boston Symphony , the London Symphony Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic, the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Japan, and the Israel Philharmonic. In Italy, he regularly conducts the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, the Filarmonica della Scala and Santa Cecilia Orchestras.

Gianandrea Noseda’s intense collaboration with the BBC Philharmonic includes studio recordings, subscription concerts at the Bridgewater Hall, the annual appearance at the Proms in London and an extensive touring activity in Italy, Czech Republic, Spain, Austria, Germany and Japan. Live performances of Beethoven’s complete symphonies from the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester by the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Gianandrea Noseda in 2005 have attracted 1.4 million download requests in a BBC trial which was offered as part of Radio 3’s The Beethoven Experience. In the following years, complete cycle of the symphonies by Tchaikovsky, Schumann and Brahms have been made available on download to the worldwide audience by the record company Chandos Records.

Gianandrea Noseda led the Mariinsky Theatre – both on tour and in St. Petersburg – in new productions of opera and ballet: he has presented for the first time ever in St. Petersburg La sonnambula, Così fan tutte and Puccini’s Il trittico. Since then he has been returning every summer for the “Stars of White Nights Festival”. In 2002 he made his Metropolitan Opera debut, conducting Prokofiev’s War and Peace followed by La forza del destino ,Un ballo in maschera and the new production of Il trovatore . Future projects with the MET include La traviata (2010), Lucia di Lammermoor (on tour in Japan in 2011) and Macbeth (2012).

This album contains no booklet.