Prokofiev: Invasion - Piano Sonatas Nos. 6 & 7

Sergei Prokofiev was frighteningly productive during the Second World War, creating such dissimilar works as the ballet Cinderella and the opera War and Peace, the triumphant Fifth Symphony and the thoroughly tragic Sixth, the Violin Sonata with its famous “wind passing through a graveyard” episode and the Flute Sonata with its joyful, dreamy, fabulous music made of light and air and imbued with good-natured humour. "This recording is the first time I have immersed myself in the world of Sergei Prokofiev, a composer who has always held a special place in my life and in my repertoire. His Sixth and Seventh Piano Sonatas were written almost simultaneously at the start of the Second World War and are very similar in form and content. The conflict between man and machine, the individual and the collective, complexity and simplicity lies at the heart of their narrative. The music combines philosophical symbolism and almost orchestral polyphonic writing with brilliant piano technique and vibrant colouristic effects, making this pair perhaps Prokofiev's two most frequently performed works for solo piano. My connection with both sonatas began many years ago, so I was very interested in taking a quick snapshot of how this music resonates with me today, in the midst of these troubled times." Sergei Redkin

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Sergei Redkin- piano