Lana Trotovsek & Maria Canyigueral: Prokofiev Milestones, Vol. 2
SOMM Recordings

Artworks are born within specific contexts, those by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) no exception. The works created by the Ukraine-born composer and pianist, who left Russia for the United States a year after the October Revolution of 1917 before returning home in the mid-‘30s, emerged within dramatically different political situations. Whereas he was able to compose with complete creative freedom during his time in America, things were a little more complicated back home.

The early works Prokofiev produced in the Soviet Union, such as the children's tale Peter and the Wolf, the film music for Lieutenant Kijé, and the ballet Romeo and Juliet, had been well-received and enjoyed public success and thus stood him in good stead upon his 1936 return. Even so, the denouncing in Pravda of Shostakovich's opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk that same year showed that Prokofiev would need to proceed carefully if he didn't want to see his works suffer a similar fate. It was against this backdrop that he began composing the Sonata No. 1 in F Minor for Violin & Piano, Op. 80, a towering half-hour work that would not be publicly performed until 1946, eight years after its creation. So long did it take for it to appear, his second, the Sonata in D Major for Solo Violin, Op. 115, premiered before the first. Commissioned by the Soviet Committee of Arts Affairs, the neo-classical second sonata wasn't, in fact, performed in public until six years after the composer's death due to a 1948 decree condemning the ‘formalism' of contemporary Soviet music.

The other works on this second volume of Prokofiev material from Slovenian violinist Lana Trotovsek and Spanish pianist Maria Canyigueral derive from different periods and include four transcriptions. During his first visit to America in 1918, Prokofiev created a solo piano suite called Tales of an Old Grandmother from which violinist Nathan Milstein transcribed its poignant second tale. Two years later, Prokofiev created a set of songs without words for soprano vocalise and piano that five years later were arranged for violin and piano. Building off the success of his earlier ballet Romeo and Juliet, Prokofiev created another for Cinderella, and five selections from it, transcribed by Soviet violinist Mikhail Fichtenholz, appear here, as does the transcription Jascha Heifetz published in 1939 of a piece from the composer's 1921 opera, The Love for Three Oranges.

A year after the first violin sonata was premiered in 1946, it was awarded the Stalin Prize for composition. Of all the pieces presented on the recording, it's the most serious, packed as it is with drama and emotional gravity. A model of craftsmanship, the sonata is a work of integrity and thoughtfully delineated form. It begins ominously, creeping in as it does from the lower register, before blossoming into an emphatic expression, the poise of Trotovsek and Canyigueral evident in the control and nuance of their playing. Note, for example, the fluidity demonstrated by the violinist in the serpentine runs that conclude the opening and closing movements and in the dance-like gestures that animate the second. The delicacy with which the two execute the spellcasting “Andante” also speaks to their sensitivity as interpreters. There's darkness but gentleness, fire, playfulness, and romance too as the work progresses through four evenly balanced movements.

That the three-part second sonata was designed with talented student musicians in mind is perhaps evident in its lighter tone. It sparkles resplendently the moment the first movement, marked “Moderato,” initiates it with fiddle-like gestures and joyful expressions. After the central slow movement presents a lyrical theme and five variations, the third reinstates the exuberant tone of the opening with nimble violin flourishes. Interestingly, the “Andante” that begins 5 Melodies for Violin & Piano distantly echoes the standard “I've Got a Crush on You”; the second (“Lento, ma non troppo”) and fourth (“Allegretto leggero e scherzando”) sing as sweetly, while the fifth (“Andante non troppo”) reflects the composer's tender and playful sides. As charming are the five pieces from Cinderella, which was first presented at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre a few months after WWII. An engaging and acerbic romp, the “Grand Waltz” is quintessential Prokofiev, the “Gavotte” playfully macabre, “The Winter Fairy” a delightfully enticing confection, and the “Mazurka” as endearing. The recitalists also give exquisite voice to the nostalgic tenderness of the “No. 2, Andantino” from Tales of an Old Grandmother and conclude the release with the lively “March” from The Love for Three Oranges.

February 2025