Barbican Hall, 9 February 2013

BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Martyn Brabbins

There is a good case for using live music with a wide range of films and presentations of Able Gance’s Napoleon and the 1925 version of Ben Hur are obvious examples.

Prokofiev’s score for Alexander Nevsky has suffered from the simple fact that the sound recording is one of the poorest that Eisenstein produced and does little justice to the quality of the composition even if it has its own special resonance. Prokofiev arranged the score into a choral cantata, and it is this which forms the basis of the version we heard at the Barbican Hall on Saturday. Does it work? Well, up to a point. The scoring is exciting and the almost entirely musical battle on the ice takes on a life of its own. However, the changes between the original soundtrack, hissing like a bad 78, and the clarity of the live orchestra is frequently disturbing.

One of the most effective moments is the long alto solo, beautifully intoned by Catherine Wynn-Rogers, at the end of the battle, where the survivors search for loved ones across the bleak landscape.

Martyn Brabbins brought enthusiasm and superb timing to his handling of the whole event, and there was some splendid playing from brass and percussion, but I was left wondering, given the wonders of digital technology, whether it would not be possible to merge the original soundtrack, suitably cleaned, with a new orchestral recording. BH