Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Sonata
no. 7 in D major (Op. 10 no. 3)
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Sonata
no. 27 in E minor (Op. 90)
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Sonata
no. 32 in C minor (Op. 111)
Alexander Scriabin Piano Sonata
no. 3 in F sharp minor (Op. 23)
Boris Arapov Piano Sonata no. 2
(1978)
Concerto for Violin, Piano, and
Percussions with Chamber Orchestra (1973)
To say that the legendary Russian
pianist Grigory Sokolov is somewhat under-recorded is to put it mildly. If you
have the 10-CD collection put out in 2011 by Naïve Records in 2011 and the
single DVD of the 2002 recital in Paris issued by Medici Arts in 2002, then
you’ve got more than the lion’s share. This contrasts, for example, with the
318 recordings by Sviatoslav Richter available for purchase in Archiv Musik –
or the 148 by Emil Gilels, who chaired the jury when Sokolov won the
Tchaikovsky prize in 1966 at the age of 16.
So this double CD from Melodyiya
is very welcome indeed. Sokolov is often compared (justly) to Gilels and Richter
as a giant of the keyboard and there is nothing on these two discs that would
make anyone rethink. The recording of Beethoven’s last sonata in particular is
monumental.
I imagine that most people will
buy this recording for the Beethoven performances. The exciting performance of Op.
10 no.3 shows Sokolov’s trademark combination of great power and delicate
lyricism throughout, but particularly in the initial Presto. The slow movement is
spell-binding. Flexible tempi work very well in both movements of Op. 90, with
real profundity emerging from Sokolov’s searching exploration of the first
movement.
Sokolov is almost an ideal match
for the Op. 111 sonata, whose two movements display the two dimensions of his
playing style. His incredible technical mastery is firmly on display in the
tempestuous first movement, but clearly in service to his sure grasp of the
movement’s architecture and never drowning out the expressiveness of the music.
The theme, variations, and coda of the second movement are almost perfectly
suited to Sokolov’s meditative and lyrical approach. He projects a clear sense
of progression through the massive movement, not an easy thing to achieve given
its structure. In all the performance is one of the greats.
The second disc contains Scriabin’s
third piano sonata, fairly standard fare for Soviet/Russian pianists, and, more
unusually, two pieces by the Russian composer Boris Arapov who died in 1995.
Arapov’s piano sonata no. 2 is a workmanlike piece, but the Concerto for
Violin, Piano, and Percussions with Chamber Orchestra is an intriguing piece,
almost certainly unique in the line up of soloists!
The weak link in the chain is the
presentation. The cover design and font is cheesy in the extreme and the program
notes very breathless. But anyone concerned about that can purchase the
download. The sound quality varies from fairly good (for the 1974 recording of
Op. 10 no. 3) to good for the later recordings (Op. 111 was recorded live in
Leningrad in March 1988). This is a must-buy.
