The Thrills of Prokofiev | Gianandrea Noseda and London Symphony Orchestra

A symphony thwarted by history, and a concerto from a composer at his peak.

A few years after finishing his Fourth Symphony, Prokofiev made an optimistic return to the Soviet Union. Shortly after he revised the symphony in 1947, his music was banned from performance in Stalin’s Russia. Prokofiev felt that the second version, produced as his fortunes turned, was so changed that it was a different work. Its dark, ambivalent grandeur demands attention.

From the opening notes of a distant horn to a thunderously satisfying finish, Brahms’s elegant Second Piano Concerto is the work of a composer at the height of his powers.

Principal Guest Conductor Gianandrea Noseda and the LSO continue their cycle of Prokofiev’s Symphonies, marking 70 years since the composer’s death. Sparks fly as they embrace the composer’s dramatic sensibility. Simon Trpceski brings edge-of-the-seat playing to the brilliance of Brahms.