Sergei Prokofiev - Piano Sonata No.6

After two violin-centric posts it's probably about time for something else, right? So I thought it might be a good idea to post a piano sonata! It is by one of my favourite Russians, Sergei Prokofiev, who wrote a huge amount of fantastic piano music. The Piano Sonata No.6 was the first piano sonata I actually listened to on my own all the way through (a recording by Evgeny Kissin that I "borrowed" from my parents) quite a few years ago. I love it because it's energetic and fun and diverse yet it's still rather affecting and just wonderful.

   

Sergei Prokofiev - Piano Sonata No.6 - Mvt.1: Allegro moderato. 
Played by Nikolai Lugansky (I'm still waiting for CDs of him playing all of Prokofiev's piano concertos, seriously don't understand why these don't exist yet) 

The Piano Sonata No.6 (1940) is a four-movement work for solo piano. I once tried to play it but my hands couldn't even reach to play the opening chords, so it wasn't quite succesful. I've read lots of conflicting opinions about the sonata, some find it overly simple and don't find enough (emotional) depth in it, but there's also lots of people for whom it's their favourite sonata. And legendary pianist Sviatoslav Richter said this about it: "The remarkable clarity of style and structural perfection of the music amazed me. I hadn't heard anything like it before. The composer, with barbaric audacity, breaks with the ideals of the Romantics and includes the shattering pulse of the twentieth century in his music." (From Sergei Prokofiev by Daniel Jaffé). If you like bombastic Russians writing amazing melodies and being jealous of pianists, then I'm sure you'll like it too. If you're only into Chopin/Satie/the piano as a calming instrument, you might not be so keen. But give it a try anyway! 

Other YPGTCM posts on Sergei Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet, Piano Concerto No.2.

Sergei Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No.2

Prokofiev's piano concertos are probably my favourite piano concertos. The second and third especially, they are so fantastic. A while ago I was lucky enough to see my beloved Nikolai Lugansky play the second (I've already seen him play the third a few times) and it just confirmed for me how fantastic that piece is. Here is the third movement:

Sergei Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No.2: III Intermezzo - Allegro moderato. 
Played by Nikolai Lugansky, conductor is Vladimir Jurowski but I don't know what orchestra it is.

Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No.2 was first performed in 1913 when Prokofiev was only 22 years old. Unfortunately the score was lost during the Russian revolution and Prokofiev used sketches he still had of the piece to reconstruct it, with some considerable revisions (though we will obviously never know what the revisions were). He said later of these revisions that they turned the piece into something different altogether and that it was "so completely rewritten that it might almost be considered no. 4". Apparently it is one of the most difficult pieces in the repertoire and it's definitely one of the most exciting ones! It consists of four movements, apart from the third I posted in here there's Mvt. 1: Andantino-Allegretto Part 1, Mvt 1 Part 2, Mvt 2: Scherzo - vivace (so ridiculously fast!), Mvt. 4: Allegro tempestoso Part 1 (this part is great for Lugansky's Amazing Bouncing Hands), Mvt. 4 Part 2.

On an unrelated note, I have written a few more reviews for bachtrack.com since I last posted: The opening night of Haarlem's Koorbiennale with pieces by Feldman, Gubaidulina, Manneke and Ešenvalds, Ravel, Prokofiev and Dvorak in the Concertgebouw and Debussy, Saint-Saëns and Franck, also in the Concertgebouw. As always, any and all feedback is welcome.

Other YPGTCM posts on Sergei Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet

Nikolai Lugansky and Vadim Repin

I sort of have a crush on Nikolai Lugansky. I don't know why, but it probably has something to do with the times I've seen him play Prokofiev's 3rd piano concerto because nobody plays that concerto quite like he does. Thankfully the repertoire he usually plays are pieces I LOVE (Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, some excursions into Lizst and Chopin) and he plays in The Netherlands pretty often so I get to see him a few times each year. But before this turns into a rant of why he's so awesome, the reason why I'm writing about him is a CD that he and Vadim Repin released last year, with violin sonatas by Janáĉek, Grieg and Franck.

This CD is seriously one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. Every single movement of the three sonatas is incredible, the playing and phrasing is beyond comparison. And I'm pretty sure I'm not just saying this because I was already a fan of these two musicians (Repin plays a mean Shostakovich concerto and reminds me of Vincent d'Onofrio in a big-teddybear-but-so-intimidating kinda way, so of course I love him). Anyway, as usual, I want to share the love. So here are some excerpts from the CD:

Leos Janáĉek - Sonata for Violin and Piano: III Allegretto

Edvard Grieg - Sonata for Violin and Piano No.2: II Allegretto tranquillo

César Franck - Sonata for Violin and Piano: III Recitativo-Fantasia. Moderato

And as a special treat, here they are playing Arvo Pärt's Fratres: