Alexander Melnikov SERGEI PROKOFIEV 1

To listeners who know Alexander Melnikov’s cultivated musicality and fastidious pianism – so beautifully manifest in the series of Schumann trios and concertos with Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guihen Queyras and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra under Pablo Heras-Casado – his decision to record all nine Prokofiev sonatas may seem an abrupt shift of gear. Apart from an early recording of the Visions fugitives (still available as a download from Sacrambow), Melnikov’s recent traversals of the Russian literature have focused on Scriabin, Rachmaninov and of course his much-acclaimed Shostakovich (8/10, 5/12). Though resident in the West for some time now, Melnikov’s credentials as a product of the ‘Russian School’ are unmistakable. Yet these fresh, strikingly original readings of two of the ‘War Sonatas’ coupled with the early Second Sonata suggest something well beyond the canonic Russian approach to Prokofiev.

Melnikov’s performances replace brute power with pellucid textures and a kaleidoscope of brilliant colours. Grinding motoric rhythms are superseded by an infinitely calibrated kinaesthetic sense of almost terrifying intensity. Transitions of tempo occur with the natural inevitability of a living, breathing organism. The precise dimensions and shapes of Prokofiev’s structures appear in sharp focus while his musical narratives, for all their wealth of detail, unfold with undistracted purpose. In all this, Melnikov’s dazzling virtuosity is never an end in itself but the servant of his vivid imagination.

The Allegretto scherzo of the Sixth Sonata evokes the orchestral richness of the Fifth Symphony, giving way to the third movement’s slow waltz, recalling the arcing lyricism of Romeo and Juliet. Without sacrificing clarity, the toccata-like finale is breathtaking in its sheer velocity. Though the more circumspect Eighth Sonata divulges its secrets with greater reticence, Melnikov’s close reading of the score delivers a performance of searing impact.

The sound is consistent with Harmonia Mundi’s customarily high standards. Comparison with other recordings is difficult. There is something here of the mercurial imagination of Sofronitsky, as well as of Richter’s hyper-sensitivity and Gilels’s executive perfection. But ultimately, these performances are unmistakably Melnikov’s own, representing, I believe, a new level of Prokofiev interpretation. (Patrick Rucker / Gramophone )