The Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25, also known as the Classical, was Sergei Prokofiev's first numbered symphony. He began to compose it in 1916 and completed it on September 10, 1917. It was composed as a modern reinterpretation of the classical style of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The symphony's nickname was bestowed upon it by the composer. It premiered on April 18, 1918, in Petrograd, conducted by Prokofiev.
Background
The symphony is composed in a style based on that of Haydn and Mozart, but does not follow them strictly. It has often been described as "neo-classical". The work was partly inspired by his conducting studies at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, where the instructor, Nikolai Tcherepnin, taught his students about conducting Haydn, among other composers.
The influence of Mozart is apparent in the light, airy scoring and the fast paced bustle of the outer movements but it does deviate from this influence in some surprising ways. Prokofiev's own style is noticeable in the way the themes step upward or downward into the neighboring keys before returning to the first one. This is especially true of the second theme of the first movement and of the gavotte.
Prokofiev wrote the symphony on holiday in the country, using it as an exercise in composing away from the piano. This also served to get him away from the violent street fighting of the February Revolution which was then underway in Petrograd.
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|London Symphony Orchestra
|align="center"|Walter Weller
|align="center"|Decca
|align="center"|1974
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|London Symphony Orchestra
|align="center"|Vladimir Ashkenazy
|align="center"|Decca
|align="center"|1974
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|Czech Philharmonic
|align="center"|Zdeněk Košler
|align="center"|Supraphon
|align="center"|1978
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|London Symphony Orchestra
|align="center"|André Previn
|align="center"|EMI Classics
|align="center"|1978
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|Berlin Philharmonic
|align="center"|Herbert von Karajan
|align="center"|Deutsche Grammophon
|align="center"|1981
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|Chicago Symphony Orchestra
|align="center"|Sir Georg Solti
|align="center"|Decca
|align="center"|1982
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|Scottish National Orchestra
|align="center"|Neeme Järvi
|align="center"|Chandos
|align="center"|1985
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|Orchestre National de France
|align="center"|Lorin Maazel
|align="center"|CBS Masterworks
|align="center"|1985
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
|align="center"|André Previn
|align="center"|Philips
|align="center"|1986
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
|align="center"|(none)
|align="center"|Deutsche Grammophon
|align="center"|1987
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|Münchner Philharmoniker
|align="center"|Sergiu Celibidache
|align="center"|Warner Classics
|align="center"|1988
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|Orchestre National de France
|align="center"|Mstislav Rostropovich
|align="center"|Erato
|align="center"|1988
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|Berlin Philharmonic
|align="center"|Seiji Ozawa
|align="center"|Deutsche Grammophon
|align="center"|1989
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|Slovak Philharmonic
|align="center"|Stephen Gunzenhauser
|align="center"|Naxos
|align="center"|1989
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|Chamber Orchestra of Europe
|align="center"|Claudio Abbado
|align="center"|Deutsche Grammophon
|align="center"|1989
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|Soviet State Orchestra
|align="center"|Nikolay Tiomkin
|align="center"|Discover the Classics
|align="center"|1990
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|Philadelphia Orchestra
|align="center"|Riccardo Muti
|align="center"|Philips Classics Records
|align="center"|1990
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|Sinfonia Varsovia
|align="center"|Krzysztof Penderecki
|align="center"|Aperto
|align="center"|1990
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|London Symphony Orchestra
|align="center"|Michael Tilson Thomas
|align="center"|Sony Classical
|align="center"|1991
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|Chicago Symphony Orchestra
|align="center"|James Levine
|align="center"|Deutsche Grammophon
|align="center"|1994
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra
|align="center"|
|align="center"|Sony
|align="center"|1994
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
|align="center"|Theodore Kuchar
|align="center"|Naxos
|align="center"|1995
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|London Symphony Orchestra
|align="center"|Valery Gergiev
|align="center"|Philips
|align="center"|2004
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra
|align="center"|Marin Alsop
|align="center"|Naxos
|align="center"|2013
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|USSR Ministry of Culture State Symphony Orchestra
|align="center"|Gennadi Rozhdestvensky
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|CD/LP
|-
|align="center"|Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
|align="center"|Kirill Karabits
|align="center"|Onyx Classics
|align="center"|2014
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|Sinfonia Varsovia
|align="center"|Jerzy Maksymiuk
|align="center"|Warner Music Poland
|align="center"|2015
|align="center"|CD
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
| style="text-align:center;"|Tugan Sokhiev
| style="text-align:center;"|Sony Classics
| style="text-align:center;"|2016
| style="text-align:center;"|CD
|-
|align="center"|Royal Scottish National Orchestra
|align="center"|Thomas Søndergård
|align="center"|Linn Records
|align="center"|2019
|align="center"|CD
|-
|align="center"|London Symphony Orchestra
|align="center"|Gianandrea Noseda
|align="center"|LSO Live
|align="center"|2020
|align="center"|Download
|}
References
Sources