Prokofiev War Sonatas
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
- GRAMOPHONE EDITOR’S CHOICE
- SHORTLIST: BEST INSTRUMENTAL RECORDING, 2020 GRAMOPHONE AWARDS
- BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE INSTRUMENTAL RECORDING OF THE MONTH
- BBC RADIO 3 RECORD REVIEW DISC OF THE WEEK
- MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL RECOMMENDED RECORDING
On this new release, Osborne is emotionally cooler but technically just as dazzling, and his ability to play the long game is incredible. At every moment in these performances, you hear him ‘placing’ everything in a structural context, so that the Seventh Sonata, more diminutive than either of the other sonatas, and which can sometimes feel like the least compelling of the three, here emerges as exceptionally rich. I particularly liked his organic approach to this Sonata’s second movement, which has a palpable sense of ebb and flow. The recorded sound is superbly incisive, as is the playing. Highly recommended. (Limelight)
This new disc is very special indeed. Steven Osborne’s technical prowess is never an issue, the ferocity and muscular energy of the playing thrilling. Add to that an understanding of Prokofiev’s sharp wit, and an ability to make the tunes sing, and you’ve probably got the best modern accounts of the sonatas available. (The Arts Desk)
These three works represent the apex of Prokofiev’s solo piano music and have been recorded numerous times by illustrious pianists, including Sviatoslav Richter, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Denis Kozhukhin, and others. Osborne, now joins their ranks as among the best in this repertoire... This stupendous performance, like the others on the disc, is well captured by Hyperion’s engineers. I cannot think of any pianist today who could surpass Steven Osborne in this music. (MusicWeb International)
The Scottish pianist Steven Osborne has been recording for 20 years, and now seems to be at the height of his powers. I am prompted to this judgement by his meticulous, but passionate, new account of Prokofiev’s War Sonatas on Hyperion… There are numerous recordings of these intense, dark, brilliant works, and I have long thought Boris Merna’s, for Chandos in the late Nineties, would be hard to beat. Well, Osborne has done so. He matches Berman’s faithfulness to the scores, in which Prokofiev left detailed instructions to the performer; but he adds something almost indiscernible in clarity and tension… His main gift as a performer, other than his precision, is his ability to generate a sense of excitement. That certainly comes through on the Prokofiev disc…. If you are unfamiliar with Osborne’s work, hardly any of his Hyperion recordings will disappoint… Like the Prokofiev sonatas, they provide an excellent and immediate introduction to the enormous talent of a great British pianist. (The Saturday Telegraph)
Steven Osborne's fiery and supremely articulate performance matches the young Ashkenazy's legendary 1967 recording (Decca-deleted) – and is even faster. There are also moments of nostalgic tenderness such as eighth sonata's andante second movement, a delicately tripping minuet marked sognando, which is suitably dreamy under Osborne's tender hands. The sonatas were recorded in an airy church acoustic which tames their aural relentlessness. Want all three sonatas? Osborne's recording is an unqualified recommendation. (Birmingham Post)
Ever since that memorable Vingt regards sur l’enfant-Jésus, recorded in 2001, a new Steven Osborne release has been a cause for celebration… Those familiar with the first movement of Op. 82 will have a pretty good idea of what to expect. What they won’t be prepared for is the weighty, seat-pinning power of Osborne’s opener. I daresay they’ll also be staggered, as I was, by his control of colour, dynamics and rhythm, all of which combine to project a sense of unassailable authority. It’s not just about the big, barnstorming gestures, for the smaller ones are similarly engaging and assured. Make no mistake, Osborne’s firm grip isn’t a worrying sign of control-freakery - as it might be with a lesser pianist - for his phenomenal technique serves the music and nothing else. (Seen and Heard International)
Osborne’s Prokofiev is the stuff of legend… Steven Osborne’s iconic performances of Prokofiev’s War Sonatas… from the first electrifying note-punch to last, with so much poetry and poignancy in between, this is a tour de force of pianism highlighting what seems more than ever like the great sonata sequence of the 20th-century… there are so many towering performance of these harrowing works, but Steven Osborne caps them all. (BBC Music Magazine, March 2020)
The three War Sonatas prove to be such a fine fit for Steven Osborne’s brilliance and volatility… they sound like they could have been written for him so well does he identify with their musical intent and rise to their sometimes extreme challenges…. The performance of Sonata No. 7 is extraordinarily compelling, a showcase of exhilarating pianism… Osborne captures the mixture of the militarily mechanistic, the terror, the lyrical, and the sudden cinematic flights of fancy in all three of these sonatas… a stunning album all in all. (BBC Radio 3 Record Review)
Steven Osborne, a pianist whose playing speaks always of reflective thought, musical instinct and compelling technique, adds these three Prokofiev sonatas to his already extraordinary discography… Steven Osborne’s assured mastery in a wide range of repertoire continues to expand and amaze…. no pianist in my experience has matched Osborne’s finale for acuity of touch, pinpoint transparency and airborne suppleness. The music dances off the page, tickles the ear, engages the mind… (Gramophone)
As the summation of Prokofiev’s piano oeuvre, this triptych makes big demands on the performer, a challenge to which Steven Osborne rises with ease. AS ever with this fine Scottish pianist, the articulation has a pellucid clarity, the delicacy of his touch letting each movement bloom in its own way... I can’t imagine a more authoritative – and at the same time more sympathetic – account of these works. (International Piano)
This recording of Prokofiev’s “war sonatas”, composed between 1939 and 1944, imbued (especially the first two) with a certain quality of alarm and often seen as a trilogy, is outstanding. From the carefully graded staccato opening of No 6 to the fast, unquiet start of No 7, with its brief finale’s ostinato savagery, to the deceptively gentle incipit of the No 8, Osborne brings to these scores high interpretative intelligence as well as dazzling virtuosity. ( The Sunday Times)
Tracklisting
Prokofiev-Piano Sonata no.6
Allegro moderato
Allegretto
Tempo di valser lentissimo
Vivace
Prokofiev-Sonata no.7
Allegro inquieto
Andante caloroso
Precipitato
Prokofiev-Piano Sonata no.8
Andante dolce
Andante sognando
Vivace