Ilya Yakushev - Prokofiev: The Piano Sonatas, Vol. 2 (2017)

A pupil of Vladimir Feltsman, the Russian pianist Ilya Yakushev won the First Prize at the famous Cincinnati Competition in 2005, which illico opened the doors to the North American concert scene - as well as that of his native country . He proposes here a choice of three Prokofiev Sonatas for the second volume of his integral: the First Op. 1 of 1907, written in a single movement, shows us a Prokofiev of seventeen years already possessing considerable means, even If the inheritance of Rimsky-Korsakov and Rachmaninov is still felt. The Second Sonata, of 1912, is already fully Prokofievian in its "motorism" tinged with lyricism and tender bitterness, if one accepts the oxymoron. The Ninth, written in 1947 and dedicated to Sviatoslav Richter, is completely removed from Prokofiev's knowledge. Tenderness, gentleness, conciseness, economy of means, even the most moving moments would come close to a kind of baroque language. The Andante unfolds one of the most beautiful melodic lines imagined by Prokofiev - of which, let us specify, it was the ultimate piano work. Yakushev knows how to stagger the sound planes and define simultaneous and yet very different colors, from one hand to the other, or even from one finger to the other in one and the same hand. One would almost have the impression that two or three pianists share the performance, each with a specific touch.

TRACKLIST

01. Piano Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 1: I. Allegro. Meno mosso. Allegro
02. Piano Sonata No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 14: I. Allegor ma non troppo
03. Piano Sonata No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 14: II. Scherzo. Allegro marcato
04. Piano Sonata No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 14: III. Andante
05. Piano Sonata No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 14: IV. Vivace
06. Piano Sonata No. 9 in C Major, Op. 103: I. Allegretto
07. Piano Sonata No. 9 in C Major, Op. 103: II. Allegro strepitoso
08. Piano Sonata No. 9 in C Major, Op. 103: III. Andante tranquillo
09. Piano Sonata No. 9 in C Major, Op. 103: IV. Allegro con brio ma non troppo presto