Prokofiev: Piano sonatas Nos 2, 6 & 8

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SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Prokofiev: Piano sonatas Nos 2, 6 & 8
Alexander Melnikov (piano)

[ Harmonia Mundi / CD ]

Release Date: Monday 16 January 2017

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In this first volume of a complete cycle of the Prokofiev sonatas, his compatriot Alexander Melnikov reveals three emblematic works. The brilliant Second Sonata dates from 1912, when its composer was still a student at the St Petersburg Conservatory; with the Sixth (1939) and Eighth (1944) we meet the master in his full maturity, plunged in the darkest years of the Great Terror and the war. Echoes of his music for the theatre, lyricism and violence mingle amid ultra-virtuoso pianism.

"Melnikov eschews barnstorming and mere effect, yet his refined, thoughtful approach never lacks power or impact; cataclysmic passages are revealed afresh, tender moments meltingly exquisite. That this vividly-recorded disc is the first in a complete cycle of the sonatas is cause for celebration." Classical Music

"it's tempting to suggest that Melnikov might be said to be returning to his roots and the heartland of his native repertoire, but that would ignore the fact that the man has become a renowned chamber musician, with many of his interests coming together." Herald (Glasgow)

"one of the top pianists of our time…[Melnikov's interpretations] are in a class of their own…given perfect clarity of inner lines and a refusal to lose intellectual grip even on the most tornado-like of crescendos, you end up thinking 'what extraordinary works' rather than 'what a great pianist' - and it doesn't get better than that." Disc of the Month (Five Stars) BBC Music February 2017

"Melnikov's performances replace brute power with pellucid textures and a kaleidoscope of brilliant colours. Grinding motoric rhythms are superseded by an infinitely calibrated kinaesthetic sense of almost terrifying intensity…in all this, Melnikov's dazzling virtuosity is never an end in itself but the servant of his vivid imagination…ultimately, these performances are unmistakably Melnikov's own, representing, I believe, a new level of Prokofiev interpretation" Gramophone

Tracks:

Piano Sonata No. 2 in D minor, Op. 14
Piano Sonata No. 6 in A major, Op. 82
Piano Sonata No. 8 in B flat major, Op. 84