Prokofiev: Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution Staatskapelle Weimar & Kirill Karabits

• Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953): Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution, Op. 74:
• 1 I. Prelude. "A spectre is haunting Europe, the spectre of Communism". Moderato - Allegro 02:27
• 2 II. The Philosophers. Andante Assai 02:18
• 3 III. Interlude. Allegro - Andante - Adagio 01:18
• 4 IV. Choir: Marching in Close Ranks. "A tight little band". Allegretto 02:19
• 5 V. Interlude. Tempestoso 01:21
• 6 VI. Revolution. Andante non troppo - Più mosso - Allegro moderato - (Precipitato) - Adagio Molto 09:31
• 7 VII. Victory. "Comrades, we are approaching spring". Andante 05:00
• 8 VIII. The Oath. Andante Pesante 06:07
• 9 IX. Symphony. Allegro energico - Meno Mosso 06:17
• 10 X. The Constitution. Andante Assai - Andante Molto 05:09
• Total Runtime 41:47

Info for Prokofiev: Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution

Prokofiev’s 1937 Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution sets – during the "Great Terror" – central texts by Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin on a gigantic choral and orchestral scale. Alongside military tumult and sonic euphoria, the score also offers three instrumental movements as moments of reflection. An exceptional historical document, music of the highest compositional level.

Art at the time of the "Great Terror": Prokofiev's Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution. The twentieth anniversary of the October Revolution made the year 1937 a high point of Soviet culture. At the same time, the "Great Terror" under Stalin reached its gruesome peak. Prokofiev, who settled permanently in Moscow in 1936, knew which country he had entered. The first position amongst Soviet composers seemed to have been vacated when Shostakovich had become a non-person following the Pravda article Muddle instead of Music. Prokofiev indicated his cooperation: he was determined to become a Soviet composer. In the Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution he played out his genuine enthusiasm for mass scorings, combining colossal symphonic forces with a double choir, a brass band, an accordion ensemble and a gigantic percussion section. The cantata oscillates between revolutionary vehemence and lyrical melodies, between Russian folklore and riotous military tumult.

An exceptional historical document of the highest compositional level - released in the year of the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution.

Kirill Karabits, Music Director of the Deutsches Nationaltheater and Staatskapelle Weimar, realises this monumental work with the Staatskapelle Weimar, the Ernst Senff Chor Berlin and members of the Erfurt Air Force Band. Also called into action are a nine-piece percussion section, an accordion quartet, gun shots, alarm sirens etc. whilst the conductor himself uses a megaphone to give a rousing rendition of the texts.

Ernst Senff Chor Berlin
Staatskapelle Weimar
Kirill Karabits, conductor

Kirill Karabits
a native of Ukraine, studied conducting and composition at the Lysenko Music School in Kiev, then at the National Music Academy of Ukraine "Peter Tchaikovsky" and at the Vienna Academy of Music. He was principal guest conductor of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg and junior conductor of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Budapest Festival Orchestra. In concert, Kirill Karabits has worked with orchestras such as the Cleveland, Philadelphia and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra Filarmonica del Teatro La Fenice and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In 2016, he conducted the Russian National Orchestra on a tour of the USA and in two concerts at the Edinburgh International Festival. This summer he made his debut at the Ravinia Festival with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In the opera field, guest engagements include Glyndebourne Festival Opera, English National Opera, Bolshoi Theatre, Wagner Geneva Festival and Hamburg State Opera. In 2015, a new production of Khovantchina was staged under his direction at Theater Basel. He is the artistic director of the I, CULTURE Orchestra, an orchestra of young musicians from Poland and other Eastern European countries. At the same time, the Ukrainian-born conductor has been principal conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra since 2008; in recognition of his work in the UK, he was named Conductor of the Year by the Royal Philharmonic Society in 2013. From 2016/17 Kirill Karabits is General Music Director and Chief Conductor of the German National Theatre and the Staatskapelle Weimar. This season, in addition to symphony concerts, he will conduct Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in Weimar and Boris Godunow at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. At the Stuttgart Opera, Karabits will take over the musical direction of the new production of Death in Venice.

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