Sergei Prokofiev had the unfortunate timing as to die on the same day as Stalin, meaning no real flowers for his funeral (he had to make do with paper ones), among other sacrifices. But sacrifice was what Prokofiev signed up for when he boldly, many say naively, returned to Russia from Paris in 1935 to support the Soviet cause. Thus, the adventurous dissonance of early pieces, like his scandal-causing second piano concerto, had to be subdued, Prokofiev ‘encouraged’ to write ‘mass songs’, children’s music and melodious ballets like ‘Cinderella’. This arrangement for two pianists of a suite from that piece by Mikael Pletnev of 2002, dedicated to performance partner Martha Argerich, highlights the work’s colourful play of rhythms, with jaunty dance movements and percussive passages. Yes, it adhered broadly to the Socialist Realist agenda, but Prokofiev’s achievement is to have remained creative and relevant from within these constraints.
Shostakovich’s prickly (to put it mildly) relationship with Stalin has been well documented, following Stalin’s accusation against Shostakovich’s opera ‘Lady Macbeth of Mtensk’ in 1936 as ‘muddle not music’. In 1922 however such conflict had yet to manifest itself, yet despair and cynicism were already a core part of the 16 year old composer’s outlook, as his Opus 6 Suite for 2 Pianos demonstrates. Dedicated to his father who died in February of that year, the suite is filled with ironic references and maudlin elements that would go on to characterise numerous later works, particularly the finale of his Viola Sonata, his own death-obsessed final composition. This release continues hat(now)art’s commendable series of releases dedicated to lesser-known Soviet music, and Ufuk and Bahar Dorduncu’s performance is vivid and convincing.
Joshua Meggitt
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