Review: Prokofiev – Piano Concerto No. 2 & 3, Piano Sonata No. 7 – Stewart Goodyear

Prokofiev’s third piano concerto has been a staple of the repertoire since its 1921 premiere in Chicago. But its predecessor has a more convoluted history. Originally written in 1913, the score was lost, so Prokofiev reconstructed it in 1923 (after completion of the third concerto), claiming it was “so completely rewritten that it might almost be considered my [Piano Concerto] No. 4.” Thirty years ago, recordings of the second concerto were relatively rare, but the latest generation of pianists (Kirill Gerstein, Yuja Wang, Beatrice Rana, Daniil Trifonov, and Haochen Zhang immediately spring to mind) have embraced and recorded the work, so Goodyear is entering a crowded and competitive field.

He is fortunate to be partnered by Andrew Litton, a pre-eminent conductor of Russian repertoire. His recent Prokofiev symphony cycle with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (BIS) reveals how well Litton can elicit a darkly Slavic sound from a non-Russian orchestra, and he has similar success with these BBC musicians. Orchestral solos have plenty of character and bite, qualities intensified by Orchid Classics engineering.

In the second concerto, Goodyear’s outer movements come in under 11 minutes, roughly a minute faster than most of the performers listed above (Wang is almost as quick). This performance is driven hard, with minimal use of rubato, save for the long and challenging Cadenza. At times, that ceaseless drive feels overwhelming, but the staggering exactitude of Goodyear’s playing never ceases to amaze. The Cadenza (which structurally serves as the movement’s Recapitulation) is a tour-de-force, every technical hurdle easily met, the music’s dissonant harmonies never soft-grained.

The Scherzo is brilliantly played, though Wang, at an even faster tempo, finds a playfulness missing here. Both Wang and Rana use warmer colors in the Intermezzo, where Goodyear and Litton draw out a more piquant palette, which highlights the music’s menace and acidic wit. The Finale honors Prokofiev’s “fast and tempestuous” marking, with a particularly barn-storming Coda.

Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 inhabits a different world, with a more consonant harmonic language and the expected Fast-Slow-Fast three movement structure. Brighter and less angst-ridden, the music seems to reflect Prokofiev’s mood during a summer holiday in Brittany, where he completed the work.

This is again a fast performance, reveling in the concerto’s frenetic energy. And the absolute virtuosity of both soloist and orchestra brings consistent pleasure. Argerich, in her classic recording with Abbado (Berlin/DG) and Wang (on DVD with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, again led by Abbado) are similarly quick, but both find an even greater variety of moods, especially the quirkiness of the second movement and the soaring lyricism at the heart of the third.

At times, Goodyear’s hyper-focus on technical perfection keeps him from realizing the music’s more subtle emotions. That is not the case in Bavouzet’s refined and breezy recording (BBC Philharmonic/Noseda/Chandos), nor Lang Lang’s performance with an inspired Berlin Philharmonic under Simon Rattle (Sony), which is arguably his best concerto interpretation.

Goodyear’s is more attuned to the darker emotions of the seventh piano sonata, capturing the biting sarcasm of the opening movement’s first theme and the hesitant searching of the second. The second movement searches desperately for stability and resolution, without success. The restless, driving rhythms of the final movement lead to a Coda of brilliantly executed cascading octave runs. 

The excellent liner notes only add to the interest and value to these brilliant performances – warmly recommended.

Recommended Comparisons

Piano Concerto No. 2: Wang | Trifonov | Rana | Ashkenazy
Piano Concerto No. 3: Argerich | Ashkenazy | Lang Lang | Bavouzet
Piano Sonata No. 7: Osborne | Bronfman | Ashkenazy | Melnikov

Prokofiev – Piano Concerto No. 2 & 3, Piano Sonata No. 7
Stewart Goodyear – Piano
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Andrew Litton – Conductor

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