An Exciting Performance
piano teacher | 06/27/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Bronfman adds a great touch to these two Prokofiev sonatas. The seventh is excellent. The precipitato is fiery fast and an exciting performance.The eighth was equally enjoyable.He provides the mystery and wonder needed in the first movement, the dreaminess of the second, and the feelings of victory and confidence in the third. His interpretations provide a new outlook to these two very difficult sonatas. This is a definite steer from the traditional, but Bronfman stays on the right track."
Great performances
piano teacher | 02/22/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I had hesitated to buy this recording because of some less-than- enthusiastic reviews, but I love Bronfman's other Prokofiev recordings and wanted to hear his interpretation of the 7th and 8th sonatas. I could not believe my ears as I listened to both sonatas. Bronfman gets such a rich, full, orchestral sound from the piano. But more than that, he plays with such attention to detail and nuance, and commands such a wide dynamic range, that his playing is always musically satisfying. I thought the 7th Sonata was intelligently interpreted, with some exquisite moments and beautiful voicings in the 2nd movement. And the 3rd movement (which everybody loves)--exciting, and free from strange rubato and oddly timed tempo changes which I have heard in many other performanfces of this. One of the reviewers mentioned his poor pedal-work in this movement. I thought his pedaling was brilliant.
The 8th sonata is equally satisfying--Bronfman's technical command of the keyboard is stunning, as is his musicality and view of the overall architecture of the sonata, as well as each individual movement.
I'm so glad I bought this recording. It will be my number one recording to recommend to piano students learning these pieces---so they can hear them played well. I wouldn't interpret everything exactly as Bronfman does, but I tip my hat to him for his insights and I respect his extremely high standards of playing in all his Prokofiev recordings."