Piano Sonata No. 5 in C major, Op. 38 (1923) [14:50]
Pensées, Op. 62 (1933-1934) [13:34]
Musique pour enfants, Op. 65 (1935) [18:56]
Piano Sonata No. 6 in A major, Op. 82 (1940) [28:04]
Yury Martynov (piano)
rec. 21-24 January 2014, Teldex Studio, Berlin
Reviewed as a 24/88.2 download from eclassical.com
Pdf booklet included
ZIG-ZAG TERRITOIRES ZZT346 [75:24]
It’s been my good fortune to hear the start of two very promising
new Prokofiev sonata cycles, one from the veteran Peter Donohoe on Somm
(review)
and the other from a relative newcomer, Alexandra Silocea on Avie; like
me, Byzantion was impressed by the latter’s traversal of Sonatas
1-5 (review).
As for Donohoe, he recorded Nos. 6-8, the so-called ‘War Sonatas’,
for Warner about 25 years ago. If the first instalment of his Somm project
is anything to go by we’re in for a treat. A pianist who has swum
into my ken recently is Denis Kozhukhin, whose account of Sonatas 6-8
is mandatory listening for all Prokofiev fans (Onyx 4111). He’s
alive to the outward virtuosity of these works; happily, he’s just
as well attuned to their inner ambiguities. The all-revealing Onyx recording
is top notch.
The much-lauded Russian pianist Yury Martynov (b. 1969) has escaped my
attention thus far, although Byzantion described his first CD of Liszt/Beethoven
arrangements as ‘little short of sensational’ (review).
As Martynov has now recorded three instalments in that series I think
one can safely assume this Prokofiev collection won’t be his last.
The couplings, the rarely heard Pensées (Thoughts) and
the delightful Musique pour enfants (Music for Children), are
a pleasant surprise; both were written in the years leading up to the
composer’s return to the USSR in 1936.
The fifth sonata, composed at Ettal, in Bavaria, is reasonably well served
on record, but Donohoe’s and Silocea’s accounts are among
the finest of recent memory. Martynov, like Donohoe, opts for Op. 38 rather
than the revised Op. 135; I much admire the latter’s ability to
shape this music - to map its topography, as it were – and that’s
something I miss in Martynov’s response to the first movement in
particular. Yes it’s exciting, but staying with the geographical
metaphor it’s also something of a featureless plain. That said,
I do like his firm but gentle control of rhythms and the way he makes
inner voices collide and cascade, to ear-pricking effect.
The Andante is just as lucid, helped in no small measure by a
well-focused recording; there’s warmth too, so the runaway glitter
of the Un poco allegretto is tethered by a taut, nicely resonant
bass. Martynov is certainly proficient – he’s more than that
in parts - but his playing is too generalised for my tastes. Both Donohoe
and Silocea are more colourful and vibrant. I really look forward to hearing
Kozhukhin in this one, for he lifts and animates these scores in a way
that only a few pianists can manage.
On the surface Martynov’s reading of the three-part Pensées
is attractive enough - he produces some gorgeous sonorities – but
that counts for little when the performance is as literal, as po-faced,
as this. I just don’t hear Prokofiev’s distinctive ‘voice’
anywhere, and that’s immensely frustrating. Listen to Boris Berman
(Chandos CHAN 9069) and you’ll hear a wistful circularity, a gentle
whimsy, that Martynov simply cannot emulate. In Martynov's hands these
are very shallow cogitations indeed.
That persistent lack of imagination and flair doesn’t bode well
for Martynov’s Music for Children, written a year before
Peter and the Wolf. As with Kinderszenen, Schumann’s
contribution to the genre, these are ‘easy pieces’ in name
only; and like most miniatures they require a quick wit and lightness
of touch. Alas, they get neither here. Morning is leaden - Promenade
is nicely articulated though - and for all its delicacy Little Story
doesn’t enchant as it should. The Tarantella is dispatched
with cool efficiency, the Waltz is unsmiling and even the March
of the Grasshoppers lacks charm. I could go on, but there’s
little point; indeed, it would be hard to imagine a less magical or engaging
set of performances than this.
Martynov rounds off with the sixth sonata, which happens to be one of
the most satisfying things on Kozhukhin’s disc. Apart from superb
articulation the latter makes the first movement teem with controlled
energy and incident, whereas Martynov goes for broke with a big, splashy
sound that misses the work’s subtle shifts and nuances. The recording
is sized to match – the piano’s lower registers are powerfully
rendered – and there’s no denying this is bravura pianism.
Trouble is, it’s apt to pall as the ear searches in vain for the
usual landmarks.
I’m more favourably disposed towards the Allegretto, whose
staccatoed character is very well conveyed; however, Kozhukhin phrases
that Romeo and Juliet tune with far more finesse. With Martynov
the ensuing slow waltz is more opaque than most, and in that sense it’s
very much in keeping with his overall view of the piece. The concluding
rondo, with its echoes of the opening movement, can so easily seem literal
and heavy handed; and so it is here, with little sense of the elusive
subtext that makes for a more complex and rewarding performance.
I suspect one’s response to Martynov’s Prokofiev will depend
a great deal on what one expects of this music. Lovers of sheer virtuosity
and aural splendour won’t be disappointed, but those who seek the
complex and elusive persona behind the notes will be. In mitigation the
recording is excellent and André Lischke’s detailed liner-notes
– in French and English - are well worth reading. All in all, a
quality package.
There’s far more to these scores than this; for illumination look
elsewhere.
Dan Morgan
twitter.com/mahlerei
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