Svetlanov conducts Prokofiev

Yevgeny Svetlanov conducts the State Symphony Orchestra of USSR in this remarkable all-Prokofiev programme, filmed at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt in 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed. They begin with the composer’s Symphony No. 1, “Classical”, in a performance that brings out all the pointed wit of Prokofiev’s brilliant pastiche of Viennese classicism. Violinist Vadim Repin then takes to the stage as soloist in the fiercely virtuosic Violin Concerto No.1, composed in the same year, 1917 – a year that, despite major political turbulence in Russia, saw Prokofiev produce several enduring masterpieces.