Carnegie Hall: Muti Conducts Scriabin and Prokofiev

Sunday afternoon at Carnegie Hall, Ricardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, in the third of a three concert series, continued their exploration of Scriabin's symphonic music and also took advantage of the presence of the Chicago Symphony Chorus to perform one of Prokofiev's most powerful works.

The program opened with Scriabin's Symphony No. 1 in E major, Op. 26 (1899-1900).  This was a massive work in terms of the orchestral forces used, and Scriabin certainly must have had a great deal of confidence in his ability if he were willing to set himself such a challenge when he had hitherto only composed for the piano.  And he was largely successful.  For a first symphony, this was a solid accomplishment even if Scriabin had not yet discovered the distinctive style that, beginning with the Third Symphony, would set apart his later orchestral works.

The work did not win immediate recognition.  The November 1900 premiere in St. Petersburg, conducted by Anatoly Liadov, was a resounding failure.  The unavailability of any chorus to perform the closing movement may have had as much to do with this as Liadov's inept conducting.  Even so, a later performance conducted by Vasily Safonov, Scriabin's former teacher at the Moscow Conservatory, fared little better.  In retrospect, it is difficult to understand why this should have been the case.  Although the music was definitely innovative, it was still firmly within the late nineteenth century Romantic tradition and should not have been unduly shocking to Russian audiences.

The symphony is in six movements.  It opens with a majestic lento that sets the tone for the remainder of the work.  It is obvious throughout that Scriabin is seeking as powerful a setting as possible for his vision of art as a means of human salvation.  This becomes explicit in the final choral movement which sets to music the composer's own hymn to art's redemptive power.  In Scriabin's imagination, art is raised to the level of a divine force.   

"Come, all peoples of the world,

Let us sing the praises of Art!

Glory to Art,

Glory forever!"

In listening to the symphony's triumphant finale, I could not help but be reminded of that of Mahler's Second Symphony written only five years before.  Though the differences were largely superficial - Scriabin's work nowhere approached the level of Mahler's sublime masterpiece - I wondered if Scriabin might not have been influenced by it.  I searched online but could find no evidence of any direct connection.  To the best of my knowledge, Scriabin never met Mahler nor attended any performance of his work.  That does not necessarily mean, however, that he had never seen a copy of the score.

After intermission, the afternoon ended with with a performance of Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78 (1939), a rearrangement in cantata form, with text by poet Vladimir Lugovskoy, of the composer's score for Sergei Eisenstein's 1938 film.  Like so many other Russian works from this period, the composition of the cantata had its roots in politics.  While Eisenstein's film - which reached its climax in the horrific annihilation of the Teutonic Knights by Russian forces in 1265 - had originally been intended to build Soviet morale as war with Germany loomed closer, all that changed when Stalin signed off on a non-aggression pact with Hitler in August 1939.  The film suddenly became an embarrassment in the face of this reversal of policy and was quickly removed from Russian theaters.  Hoping to salvage something of his music, Prokofiev reworked the material into a less politically sensitive form.  This was an immense task as it not only involved the introduction of a chorus but also the need to orchestrate the work for a much larger array of instruments than had been used in making the film.

The resulting cantata is a singular addition to Prokofiev's oeuvre.  The irony that informs so many of his other pieces is entirely absent here.  This is a sincere and straightforward acclamation of the Russian spirit.  Much of the music is brooding and almost ponderous at times as it builds in intensity to the "Battle on the Ice."  Only in the final movement, after victory has been achieved, is a touch of lightness introduced in the celebratory ringing of the bells.

Considering that this was Superbowl Sunday, there was a fairly large and enthusiastic audience on hand.  Only a few seats in the rear balcony were empty.  Muti and the CSO made the most of their opportunity to show a NYC audience what they were capable of.  I thought this an even better performance than that given on Friday evening.  Muti was in full control of the large orchestra as he led it through both these highly complex and difficult works.  The chorus, together with soloists Alisa Kolosova (mezzo-soprano) and Sergey Skorokhodov (tenor), were excellent as they did their part to make this a truly memorable performance for all involved.