Alexander Gadjiev Pf. Prokofiev

With this new volume, Alexandre Melnikov has chosen to delve into three distinct periods of the composer’s career, ranging from the dazzling though seldom-heard No. 4 to the magisterial No. 9. In between those two, the sonata no. 7 once again evokes the troubled atmosphere characteristic of the three so-called ‘war sonatas’. Sviatoslav Richter claimed to have learned the piece in a mere four days.

Chandos’s previous Prokofiev series, recorded in the 80s with Neëme Järvi and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, is still probably the most recommendable complete cycle available. Chandos now seem to feel the need to start again, the reason possibly being that they are now using ‘authentically’ all-Russian forces. Whatever the company’s motivation (or if indeed it is to be a complete cycle), the results are impressively powerful, and the coupling stimulating and generous.

This new recording (recorded in 2012) brings together two great, but altogether different 20th century Cello Sonatas from Russia: the gorgeous and deeply romantic cello sonata by Rachmaninoff, of near‐symphonic proportions, and the cello sonata by Prokofiev, a hybrid piece of his later period, a fascinating mixture of the romantic, the grotesque and the introspective side of the multi-faceted composer.

As part of Deutsche Grammophon’s release of a limited and numbered edition of Claudio Abbado’s complete recordings for DG, Decca and Philips, you can now enjoy Volume 11 in a series of 16 digital albums, which are organised in alphabetical order of composer name. This eleventh digital album presents music by Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff and Ravel.

Back before there were recordings, performance history was only as old as the oldest memory, and thus it was not only possible but inevitable that every generation would reinterpret every piece. But now in this the golden age of recorded music, when pretty much everything that's ever been recorded is available somewhere in the world, performance history has become a nightmare from which contemporary performers will never awaken. No matter how powerfully argued and compellingly played a recorded performance is, it will inevitably be compared with the great recorded performances of the past. And in that comparison, all too often the contemporary performance will be found wanting.