Although less well-known than his first, the rapturous Piano Concerto No. 2 by Tchaikovsky is arguably a better piece, requiring extraordinary poetry and technique. One of Prokofiev’s most popular works, Symphony No. 5, was written at the height of World War II. Prokofiev composed this work “glorifying the human spirit” while living in a government sponsored refuge for composers in the Soviet Union. The ending of the driving last movement inevitably brings audiences to their feet.
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