Also, Cello Concerto. Mr. Switch, DJ; Boris Andrianov,
cello; Alexey Bogorad, Ural Philharmonic. Signum Classics SIGCD628.
By John J. Puccio
No, not that Prokofiev. This is his grandson, the
Russian-British composer, producer, and DJ Gabriel Prokofiev (b. 1975), who is
also the Artistic Director of the record label and nightclub Nonclassical. He
studied composition at the Universities of Birmingham and York and became a
producer of Dance, Electro, Hip-hop and Grime music. He founded the independent
record label and club night Nonclassical in 2003 in order to bring classical
music to younger people.
Yes, the title of the first piece on the album, Concerto
for Turntables No. 1, is exactly what you think it is. It’s a concerto in
which the soloist is a disk jockey playing records on several turntables in
various unique and innovative ways to produce various unique and innovative
sounds in accompaniment with the orchestra. Naturally, the DJ has to be pretty
talented, and in this case it’s Anthony Culverwell (aka, “Mr. Switch”), a
world-champion disk jockey. OK, I admit my ignorance (or naïveté) of such
things. I had no idea there were DJ contests. In 2014 Culverwell won the DMC
World Championship, the longest-standing DJ competition in the world. And it’s
just one of many DJ competitions he’s won. So, he’s, like, a star performer,
and on this recording uses Technics 1200 turntables (described as “the Steinway
of turntables”).
Prokofiev wrote the Turntables Concerto in 2006,
and its first orchestral performance was at the BBC Proms in 2011. The composer
titled it “No. 1” because he wrote a second such concerto in 2016. Of course,
the main questions you may ask are, What’s it like, and is it worth hearing?
Obviously, these are subjective questions. It’s an unusual piece of music in
five movements that may or may not appeal to you. The sounds made on the
turntables are not always what many listeners would call “musical,” yet they’re
always fascinating. Put it this way: I was glad to have listened to it, but I’m
not sure I’d ever want to listen to it again.
 |
| Alexey Bogorad |
Anyway, Prokofiev avoids a lot of the discordant noise of
many modern composers, relying instead on good, old-fashioned melody and
rhythm. In this regard, the music is quite listenable, if not, as I said,
particularly memorable or entirely worthy of repeat listening. Still, the music
Prokofiev creates is engaging in its singularity, something I found most
entertaining when the turntables were minimally involved, as in the
second-movement Adagietto. The third, central movement is notable for
its use of human vocal noises. The booklet notes go into detail about the
techniques a talented DJ uses to create unique sounds, by the way, something
the reader may find at least informative.
Prokofiev also tells us that when he first thought about
writing his turntables concerto he was hesitant about it. He thought it might
be too gimmicky and too much an obvious attempt to fuse elements of classical
and rock in order to bring in a younger audience. But he thought better of it
and gave it his best shot. I guess he succeeded because it’s had several
recordings now and been played by orchestras all over the world. Still, his
first thoughts may have been right. I found it more than a little gimmicky,
though entertaining in the moment. I wonder what Leroy Anderson and his cats,
clocks, and typewriters or Arthur Honegger and his steam train or even Mozart
and his sleigh ride would have thought of it?
The disc’s coupling is more conventional, Prokofiev’s Cello
Concerto, featuring cellist Boris Andrianov. Prokofiev wrote it in 2012,
the third and most traditional concerto the composer says he’s written, given
that the first two were ones for turntables. Being a rather traditional fellow
myself, I found it more satisfying than the turntables concerto. Here, we find
influences of Prokofiev’s grandfather, which I found a good thing. The Cello
Concerto is witty, clever, dynamic, lyrical, and reflective by turns, yet with
a decidedly modernist sensibility.
The only thing I found questionable about the album was
the decision of Signum Classics to use a fold-over cardboard case with the CD
fitting into one of the sleeves. I found the disc quite hard to remove without
getting my fingers on the playing surface and without possibly scratching it on
the cardboard on its way in and out.
Producer and engineer Jakob Handel recorded both pieces at
Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Hall, Yekaterinburg, Russia in August 2018. Check your
volume level before playing because the music begins with a very loud bass
note, and the bass continues at an unusually high level throughout much of the
album. As for the rest of the sound, it’s rather like a pop recording in that
it’s fairly close, detailed, and flat. However, it is neither bright or hard.
Indeed, it is nicely smooth and round, like real-life sounds, and even the
quietest notes are well defined.
JJP
To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:
