by Riccardo Barone
Checkmate! No, Stalinmate! Entering in the world of Sergej Prokof’ev you have to make sure you can stand high dosage of sarcasm, anger and obsession. But never define his music as grotesque, or he will come back from the death to strangle you!
These two immortal jewels, the violin and piano sonatas n 1 in F minor Op 80 and n 2 in D major Op 94a, have been performed with so much intensity and energy by Lachlan Bramble, Associate Principal 2nd Violin Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the pianist Kenan Henderson that you could really wear the composer’s moody energy.
We know how the form, the structure and the classic influence have been so relevant in the Russian composer’s works. Both sonatas have been written for his friend/violinist David Oistrakh, which has been his opponent in some chess tournaments too. Indeed the elegant Radford Auditorium of the Art Gallery (closed to the public on that time) has been guesting a brilliant scenography with a big chess carpet with giant chess pieces and a chair in the middle, where the narrator Martin Penhale has been reading some monologues written by Kenan Henderson based on quotes of Prokof’ev and Oistrakh. On the top hanged on the wall: pictures of the Maestro playing chess, portraits of himself and Oistrakh.
During the performance: sensations of wind blowing through the grave, quoting Prokof’ev, and visions of walking across a pink-iced landscape (Andante from the 1st sonata), quoting myself.
Kryztoff Rating 4.5K
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