April 20, 2015.Sergey Prokofiev.Here at Classical Connect we love all music, from the Renaissance to the contemporary.Of course we cannot get enough of the core, from Bach to the Viennese masters, to the Romantics of the 19th century, and then, through Mahler into the 20th and on.But life would be boring without the great experiments of the early composers, who were trying to find their way from craft to art.Or the more obscure baroque musicians who developed the unheard-of-before styles, such as, for example, opera.And of course we value the music of the late 20th century, as challenging as it sometimes is.And within this enormous aural universe, we have our favorites.Some of them stay with us for a very long time, other retire to the background.The same of course happens with musical tastes in general: just take a look at the Klavierabend (piano recital) programs of the first half of the 20th century: they are drastically different from what you would hear today.One composer that remains our perennial favorite is Sergei Prokofiev.As is the case with so many talented Russian artists whose life spanned two different eras, one before, another after the October Revolution, his life was full of tragedies and triumphs, exiles and returns.We’ve written about Prokofiev, who was born on April 23rd of 1891, many times, for example, here last year, and here the year before.That’s why this time we’ll just play one piano sonata, no. 8.This is the third of the so-called War sonatas; this is a traditional misnomer as the first of the three, Piano Sonata no. 6, was completed in February and premiered in April of 1940, before the Soviet Union was invaded by the Germans.Sviatoslav Richter was the pianist to first play sonatas no. 6 and 7.Sonata no. 8, on the other hand, was premiered by Emil Gilels; the event took place on December 30th of 1944 in the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory.
Prokofiev started writing the sonata much earlier, in 1939.That was the year when he met and fell in love with Mira Mendelson, a young writer half his age. At the time Prokofiev was still married to Lina Llubera (they married in 1923), a Spanish singer whom he met in New York and brought to Moscow in 1936 when he decided to return to the Soviet Union.By 1941 Prokofiev and Lina were separated, and he was living openly with Mira.Mira became Prokofiev’s wife in 1948 and a very troubling story ensued (we’ll write about it another time).Mira is the dedicatee of the Eighth sonata, probably the most complex and deep of the three.Gilels’s 1944 performance was a triumph and soon became an essential part of his vast repertoire.He recoded it a number of times and played it, very successfully, around the world (Richter also made a great recording of the sonata).Here’s a studio recording, made by Gilels in Vienna in 1974.It’s four minutes longer than, for example, his live concert recording of 1967.
Prokofiev 2015
April 20, 2015. Sergey Prokofiev. Here at Classical Connect we love all music, from the Renaissance to the contemporary. Of course we cannot get enough of the core, from Bach to the Viennese masters, to the
Romantics of the 19th century, and then, through Mahler into the 20th and on. But life would be boring without the great experiments of the early composers, who were trying to find their way from craft to art. Or the more obscure baroque musicians who developed the unheard-of-before styles, such as, for example, opera. And of course we value the music of the late 20th century, as challenging as it sometimes is. And within this enormous aural universe, we have our favorites. Some of them stay with us for a very long time, other retire to the background. The same of course happens with musical tastes in general: just take a look at the Klavierabend (piano recital) programs of the first half of the 20th century: they are drastically different from what you would hear today. One composer that remains our perennial favorite is Sergei Prokofiev. As is the case with so many talented Russian artists whose life spanned two different eras, one before, another after the October Revolution, his life was full of tragedies and triumphs, exiles and returns. We’ve written about Prokofiev, who was born on April 23rd of 1891, many times, for example, here last year, and here the year before. That’s why this time we’ll just play one piano sonata, no. 8. This is the third of the so-called War sonatas; this is a traditional misnomer as the first of the three, Piano Sonata no. 6, was completed in February and premiered in April of 1940, before the Soviet Union was invaded by the Germans. Sviatoslav Richter was the pianist to first play sonatas no. 6 and 7. Sonata no. 8, on the other hand, was premiered by Emil Gilels; the event took place on December 30th of 1944 in the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory.
Prokofiev started writing the sonata much earlier, in 1939. That was the year when he met and fell in love with Mira Mendelson, a young writer half his age. At the time Prokofiev was still married to Lina Llubera (they married in 1923), a Spanish singer whom he met in New York and brought to Moscow in 1936 when he decided to return to the Soviet Union. By 1941 Prokofiev and Lina were separated, and he was living openly with Mira. Mira became Prokofiev’s wife in 1948 and a very troubling story ensued (we’ll write about it another time). Mira is the dedicatee of the Eighth sonata, probably the most complex and deep of the three. Gilels’s 1944 performance was a triumph and soon became an essential part of his vast repertoire. He recoded it a number of times and played it, very successfully, around the world (Richter also made a great recording of the sonata). Here’s a studio recording, made by Gilels in Vienna in 1974. It’s four minutes longer than, for example, his live concert recording of 1967.