Aphera Music

Anyone who cared to watch the “Classical” category of the Grammy’s last weekend might remember Ashkenazy winning: “Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (With Orchestra)”. With Evgeny Kissin as the piano soloist, Ashkenazy pulled off a thrilling performance conducting Prokofiev’s 2^nd and 3^rd Piano Concertos.

You’re probably wondering “Who is Prokofiev?” and “What is that name doing in the Grammy’s?” Prokofiev (1891-1953) was the equivalent of Kanye West in the early 20^th Century. His beats were fresh, he was a conceited narcissist and he was rollin’ in a high-class, dark-blue Ford. Due to his cheeky personality, it was thought by his colleagues that when he arrived in America, he was there to conquer the country. Here are his responses to the immigration officers’…

“Have you been a member of any society?”

“Yes – the Petrograd Chess Society.”

“Have you ever been in prison?”

“Yes yours.”

Later when he was asked about his political affiliations, he poignantly answered…

“I feel an artist should be beyond politics.”

Despite his failure to impress the American public with his avant-garde compositions and ‘barbaric’ exoticism, he was easily recognized as the best pianist in the world of that time. He received nicknames like, ‘man with steel hands and steel wrists’ and ‘Russian chaos in music’. One man who did find interest in Prokofiev, was Walt Disney, one of the most iconic figures in American culture. Although many ideas never carried through between the artist and the musician, the famous, Peter and The Wolf, composed by Prokofiev, became a worldwide classic.

Evgeny Kissin, similar to Prokofiev, has a certain ‘Je ne sais quoi’ to his style. This is especially heard in the monumental cadenza of the 2nd Piano Concerto. Kissin was really able to consume and understand the Concertos fully through. Perhaps he was going back to his Russian roots. I was really impressed with his ability to keep a strong sense of momentum and excitement throughout the final movement of the 3^rd Piano Concerto. Many other pianists rely on the excitement of the composition to compensate for their inability to incorporate a fresh enthusiasm while performing, but Kissin does not hold back.

As much as I wish to share all the links I have found relating to Prokofiev, I have narrowed it down to two. The first is of Yundi-Li playing the cadenza of Prokofiev’s 2^nd Piano Concerto. You must understand, it is these impressive two and a half minutes, which make this piece the hardest in the world to play. Here are Barbara Nissman’s words on the piece.

“I would say that even today No. 2 is not generally accessible — it is a monster to tame for most pianists. There are several letters that Prokofiev has written about performing this work — I even copied one down to tape in my score — Prokofiev admits that he is nervous and doesn’t want people to say that he plays his own works badly. Any pianist who reads that note before going on stage to perform this work has to smile and say — even Prokofiev thought it was difficult! But how gratifying it is to perform this work! After you’ve played the cadenza, you feel like you’ve just climbed Mt. Everest but you still have three more movements to play!”

Kissin performing

The second recording is of Kissin, but I could not find a legal video to show of his recording with Ashkenazy. The video I did find, however, is of Prokofiev’s famous Suggestion Diabolique, played by Kissin. I have never heard a better recording of this piece, not even by Prokofiev himself! When hearing this, I could easily picture demons rising from the cracks of the streets. It was often thought by Prokofiev’s audience that he or anyone who enjoyed listening to his music was abusing amphetamines, which apparently, during the 1920’s were commonly taken to provoke schizophrenia. I doubt it. For the amount of music Prokofiev wrote which startled and confused critics of the musical world, if his audience was right, I don’t think Prokofiev would be the intellectual that he was. He was not interested in taming his imagination. You could say, he was just naturally a little crazy.

Regardless, Prokofiev’s Piano Concertos do no reflect that of a crazy person. As much as you would like to argue otherwise, the pieces are too well crafted. Prokofiev could justify every harmonic dissonance and every melody, satirical or beautiful. Nothing is random. The pieces have been dissected and scrutinized by annalists around the world. Simple themes and variations were found scattered around each movement. Reappearing themes in a new key were disguised but satisfied the ear. As much as others still believe Prokofiev’s music is ‘Bolshevism in art’ or ‘a Godless Russia’, I believe there is a musical element to Prokofiev that no one has quite discovered yet.

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