Every morning, the classical section of the Tower Records Japan website is usually one of my first internet stops. Mostly to browse. My eyes tend to be bigger than my budget and dwindling space allows. So each month I select only a few “must have” discs — and one of March’s picks just materialized.
Ōno Kazushi has been gaining wider attention in recent years for his fine work in Brussels. Before then, he made some distinguished recordings of Mahler and Shostakovich for Altus with orchestras in Tokyo and Barcelona. His latest CD for the label is a live recording of Prokofiev’s Sixth Symphony, scheduled for release next month.
Just like Tchaikovsky is generally known as the composer of “three symphonies”, so Prokofiev is the author of only “two” — the First and Fifth. General audiences are largely uninterested in his other symphonies, despite their craft and expressive beauty.
Of these, maybe the Sixth is the most often performed. Curiously, outside of the “Classical”, it is the one I’ve heard the most in concert: four times since my first in 1996, conducted by Jorge Mester in Pasadena. My recollection is that even with a student discount, a Pasadena Symphony ticket was around $40 back then. Later, when I worked at a local record store, I became friends with a gent who was studying with Mester and, consequently, got to attend rehearsals and performances for free as his guest. But in 1996 I was still in high school; my weekly allowance was $20 and needed to last all seven days. So it took effort to save for the ticket to hear Mester conduct this symphony, which I had only read in score. Those were golden days in Pasadena — we had no idea how good we had it back then. Mester regularly spoiled us with all kinds of wonderful 20th-century works that he conducted with enthusiasm. His Prokofiev Sixth was no different. It’s still one of my most cherished concert memories; certainly it was the best performance of that symphony I ever heard in person.
On records, the Sixth has been pretty lucky. Ormandy, Ansermet, and Leinsdorf all made fine recordings. Mravinsky is, of course, sui generis; close behind is Rozhdestvensky. Most critics disliked Slatkin’s excellent National Symphony recording. To me it’s one of the best things in his discography. I especially like the way he intensified the frantic finale by nudging the basses to step on the orchestra’s toes. In the 21st century, the Sixth has been persuasively recorded by Gergiev (twice), Litton, and Oramo. Somewhere in one of my hard drives is a live recording in Rotterdam conducted by Kurt Sanderling from circa 2000. Someone should issue that commercially — a performance of incredible power.
Now Ōno is on his way. Looking forward to adding it to my collection soon. Good thing I make more than $20 a week now!