Prokofiev: Piano Concertos Nos 1, 3 & 5

"Kun Woo Paik's playing throughout these five concertos has exhilarating bravura. Tempi are dangerously fast at times and occasionally he has the orchestra almost scampering to keep up with him but they do, and the result is often electrifying. The famous theme and variations central movement of the Third Concerto is played with great diversity of mood and style and the darkly expressive Larghetto of No. 5 is very finely done. The First Concerto, which comes last on the first CD has great freshness and compares well with almost any version on disc. In short, with vivid recording in the Concert Hall of Polish Radio, which has plenty of ambience, this set is enormously stimulating and a remarkable bargain. It has far better sound than the remastered Decca recording for Ashkenazy." Penguin Guide

"Kun Woo Paik's particular qualities are best revealed in the most popular, tuneful and elegant of these concertos - the Third" BBC Music