Prokofiev - Piano Sonata nr. 7

Let's continue with the Prokofiev War Sonatas. First the legendary Pollini, on vinyl. I must admit not being a particular fan of this pianist. I mean, I don't dislike Pollini, but neither do I have a special relationship with him. I've never come across a recording which really bowled me over, as artists such as, for example, Kissin, Gilels or Benedetti Michelangeli have been able to. Maybe, as with singers, I just don't have the aural sensitivity to distinguish the very good from the stratospherically grand. So probably it's a heresy, but honestly I couldn't find much to like in this recording of the Seventh. It's fast, it's bone hard and left me completely cold. The dry LP sound just makes matters worse.

Over to the version I am most familiar with and which I really like: Yefim ('Fima') Bronfman's debut recital with the Seventh and Eighth sonatas, taped in 1990 for CBS. It's marginally slower without however losing its edge. The piano sound has more body and grain, which makes it just a much more cogent affair. The first movement is at times percussive and harsh, but its corners are rounded by its quizzicalness. The second movement starts dreamily but morphs into a solemn and mournful tocsin. Then the final, raucous toccata. Bronfman's reading strikes me as a layered, ambiguous but monumental statement, totally in the spirit of the times in which it was written. His reading of the Eighth Sonata is very successful too and really won me for this work. Arguably it's the greatest sonata of the trilogy.