At 38 years old the Russian pianist, Denis Kozhukhin is a king of variety. Winner of Belgian's 2010 Queen Elizabeth Competition he has branched out in several directions and his latest recording of music inspired by children takes you far away from, from example, Prokofiev's 'War' Sonatas, Nos 6,7 and 8, from a world, in Sviatoslav Richter's words, 'without reason or equilibrium,' to childhood wonder and innocence. As Denis Kozhukhin puts it, to a fairy-tale world of 'toys, dreams, losses and discoveries.' He also questions, 'is it a view of the world through the eyes of a child? Or is it maybe the view of an adult, realizing that it is through eyes of a child that the world really looks as it should?'
Schumann's 'Kinderscenen' and Debussy's 'Children's Corner Suite' may be the touchstones of childhood evocation but here there are reminders from Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky of other less familiar voices. In Prokofiev's opus 65 the 'Tarantella' is a lively dance with plenty for children to get their fingers into. The 'Waltz' is characteristically mischievous and off-centre and 'The Parade of Grasshoppers' is joyfully chirruping. But each work in this twelve-piece Suite, whether subtle, edgy or direct, provides something for everyone, a delightful contrast to the composer's notoriously prickly and sardonic nature.
Tchaikovsky's opening 'Morning Prayer's is calm and devout, his 'Winter Morning' a brisk start to the day. His wooden soldiers march with clockwork precision, and if 'The Doll's Funeral' is a sad and solemn occasion it is quickly erased by the following 'Waltz,' alive with playful cross- currents, 'Polka recalls early piano lessons and 'Sweet Dreams' is as lyrical and inviting as you could wish.
Alexey Shor(b. 1930) is also a composer imbued with the spirit of nostalgia and his Second Sonata advances into a more modern, taut and linear idiom, tis vigorous finale contrasted by the song-like central Adagio con grazia, with its gently pulsing accompaniment.
This is an enchanting programme, the performance as clean-limbed and precise as it is gently affectionate. Finally, and suitably, it is dedicated 'in loving memory' to Denis Kozhukhin's parents.
Bryce Morrison