Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 2 in D minor, Op. 14

“Sviatoslav Richter is at the top of virtually everybody's short list of great pianists, and the reasons are not hard to find. His range was engulfing, even when he took a personal and surprising dislike to the most exalted repertoire, weeding out, for example, those Beethoven sonatas he considered less than convincing. This added spice to his early status, further enlivened by his first, belated appearances in the West.
On his arrival in New York and London in the '60s, anticipation pulsed at fever pitch and in the first of three London recitals, now blessedly released by BBC Legends, his unique quality was unmistakable. It is no exaggeration to say that his Haydn and Prokofiev recital was among the greatest ever heard on the South Bank.
Here, Haydn's mischief is captured with a silken magic and dexterity peculiarly Richter's own, and who else could characterise so acutely the stylised oddity of Prokofiev's Visions fugitives? No one has touched Richter's way with the Second Sonata, its self-consciously prickly utterance resolved in a near-classical transparency.
Everything is taken by stealth rather than storm with an unforgettably lyrical second subject, though with an unflagging impetus reserved for the Scherzo and for the finale's Tom and Jerry cartoon caperings. The underlying menace of the composer's inquieto direction in the Eighth Sonata is frighteningly caught, a dark and introspective journey that leads through the Andante's faux naïf charm to a finale of blistering strength and propulsion.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“…Haydn's mischief is captured with a silken magic and dexterity peculiarly Richter's own, and who else could characterise so acutely the stylised oddity of Prokofiev's Visions fugitives? No performance in my experience has touched Richter's way with the Second Sonata, its self-consciously prickly utterance resolved in a near-classical transparency.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2009

Pianist Diane Walsh is heard in four masterpieces from the first half of the twentieth century. This newly re-mastered release was originally recorded in 1990 for Music and Arts. From the moment that Vladimir Horowitz premiered Samuel Barber's "Sonata", Op. 26, in Havana, December 1949, Barber's brilliant and poetic score has been regarded as a piano classic. Composed and dedicated to pianist Dinu Lipatti, Frank Martin's "8 Preludes" offer a wide range of moods and textures. Prokofiev's "Sonata No. 2", the earliest work in this collection, was composed in 1912. Regarded then as ‘ultra-modern', this piece's driving rhythms and virtuosity were a perfect vehicle for the young composer/pianist, who premiered the sonata in 1914, in St. Petersburg. Bartók also premiered his own "Sonata", in Budapest, December, 1926. The work's motoric rhythms and violent outbursts are given a performance of great intensity by Diane Walsh. Diane Walsh's numerous awards over a 35-year international career include the top prizes at the Munich International Piano Competition and the Salzburg International Mozart Competition.