As a cross section of Prokofiev's piano works(including the Third Concerto) this could hardly be bettered, particularly when played by Isata Kanneh-Mason with such infectious brio and affection.
Prokofiev was Russia's most brilliant bad boy, shaking his fist at Soviet officialdom scorning the Romantic ancien regime of Arensky, Liadov and Glazunov etc, insisting that it was quite possible to give a piano recital without Chopin, and further insisting that the time had come for a more muscular tradition of musical speech, one shorn of easy sentiment. Reaction was swift and unforgiving. Rachmaninov was seen stony-faced listening to the Toccata and the First Piano Concerto was dubbed the Concerto from hell, with an opening where the piano is treated like an anvil.
But turning to Kennah-Mason's lovingly chosen programme you are made aware of many sides to Prokofiev's genius, to playfulness and even warmth in the composer's own transcriptions from the Ballets of both 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Cinderella,' in the early and relatively innocent Prelude from opus 12 and in a brilliant combining of so many elements in the single movement Third Sonata.
All this makes comparisons with other performances largely irrelevant. Yet safe to say that Kennah-Mason holds her own in the Toccata, setting her store beside legendary recordings by Horowitz, Demidenko and most of all Martha Argerich. Again, in the Concerto competition is fierce, from pianists of the stature of Julius Katchen, Byron Janis, Emil Gilels, John Browning, Terence Judd(taken live from Moscow, a tribute to a pianist whose tragic death at the age of 22 robbed the world of potential greatness)and once more, Argerich. But again, Kennah-Mason is hugely enjoyable, and never more so than in the final variation from the central Theme and Variations, once delightfully described as suggesting two different forms of motion preceding simultaneously, like a sprinter viewed from a train window. She is realistically integrated into the Philharmonia's sympathetic partnership under Ryan Bancroft and delights in the variety offered by Prokofiev's Ballet scores, particularly the spring, summer, autumn and winter fairies from 'Cinderella(though I missed the final 'Amoroso' a haunting and affecting end to the Suite.). In the Third Sonata she shows finely graded lyricism as well as a fierce 'tempestoso' propulsion. Overall, this record provides an ideal introduction to Prokofiev, particularly for those hesitant before his forbidding reputation. Decca's sound is ideal and there are no less than six photographs of the pianist.
Bryce Morrison