PROKOFIEV SONATAS 1-5 (Sonata no 5, op 135)

About this event

Prokofiev's Fifth Sonata was the only sonata completed after the fourth in 1917 and the War Sonatas, Nos. 6-8, which were begun in 1939. Although the composer was pleased with the work, audiences initially were less so, since its refinement, neo-classical poise and modernistic features were less arresting to the public than the brilliant energy of the second, third and fourth sonatas with which the composer tended to couple the fifth in his recitals. Prokofiev revised the sonata in 1952, largely to clarify its textures and shape, rather than to carry out radical re-writing of the whole, and felt particularly satisfied with the result; and it is in this version that the sonata is performed in this recital. The elegance and beauty of this work are striking. Fauré's thirteenth Barcarolle and thirteenth Nocturne complete the first half of this recital: brilliant, poetic and complex masterpieces that predate Prokofiev's fifth sonata by a couple of years. Fauré's description to his wife of the Barcarolle as 'un petit morceau de piano' is surely delicate self-mockery. Martinu's Sonata No. 1 from 1953 is a hidden treasure of the twentieth century. Its visionary power stands almost alone, and when played with Prokofiev's 6th sonata, as tonight's performer has frequently done, it is in no way overshadowed by the latter.