Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 7 in B flat major, Op. 83

This CD introduces a new series on Preiser Records, 'Classic Collection'. The artistic director is the versatile pianist and conductor Stefan Vladar. He features in the first three releases and has selected works which he regards to be of the highest artistic quality.

New signing and exclusive Naïve Classique artist, Anna Vinnitskaya makes her much anticipated debut album on the Ambroisie label featuring an all-Russian programme of piano sonatas by Rachmaninov, Medtner and Prokofiev and a piece by Gubaidulina.

This is Anna Vinnitskaya’s first ever recording and, unsurprisingly, it has already been met with high critical acclaim. Since its release in France, it was awarded the “Diapason d´Or” (within the “Discoveries” category) and most recently, the “Choc du mois” by Classica Magazine. After going through a period of pronounced disfavour in the second half of the 19th century, the piano sonata enjoyed a veritable renaissance from the start of the twentieth which was due in large measure to Russian composers. Vinnitskaya here explores the way in which the great Russian virtuoso pianist-composers (Medtner, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov) paid homage in their different ways to a genre that was already more than two centuries old. Also included is Chaconne, written by well-known Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina. At only 26, Anna Vinnitskaya has already established a flourishing international career, both in recital and orchestral performances. In 2007, she won first prize in the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels becoming only the second woman in the history of the competition for piano to do so, after Ekaterina Novitskaya in 1968.

Recorded directly on master lacquers at RCA recording studios, Studio A, New York, 1976

A much sought-after and rare recital of the great Sviatoslav Richter featuring unusual repertoire - Szymanowski and Bartok.

Richter gave the premiere of the Prokofiev Sonata No.7 'Stalingrad' in 1943. It is a tour de force and shows off Richter's incomparable technique and power. Richter also gave premieres of Prokofiev's Sonata No.6 and No.9 and remained a close friend of the composer during his lifetime.

Richter was perhaps the first great pianist to promote the Schubert sonatas and recorded all of them including the incomplete ones (with the curious omission of the A major D959). He was also credited with raising their profile to that accorded to Beethoven and Mozart.

Recorded at a packed Royal Festival Hall In 1970 when Richter was at the height of his powers and fame.

BBC Legends has the largest catalogue of Richter broadcasts which have all sold exceptionally well.

Sviatoslav Richter plays Prokofiev’s Piano Sonatas Nos. 6, 7 & 9, recorded live in Moscow in 1958 and 1956.

The debut CD from the winner of the 2007 Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition.

Since winning the Arthur Rubinstein Competition and the Sidney Piano Competition, Alexander Korsantia’s career has taken him to many of the world’s major concert halls, collaborating with renowned conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Christoph Eschenbach, Yuri Bashmet and Paavo Jarvi and orchestras as the Chicago Symphony, the Kirov, Israel Philharmonic and Oslo Philharmonic. He has also given many recitals with renowned violinist Vadim Repin. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Korsantia has lived in the United States since 1992. He now resides in Boston where he is Professor of Piano at the New England Conservatory. Enjoying great popularity in his country of birth, he performed at the inauguration of Georgian President Saakashvili in 2004.

Korsantia’s live recordings, on two discs, present an attractive programme carefully chosen from recitals he has given since 1995 in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Toulouse, Boston and New York. The first CD features arrangements of Bach by Busoni, Egon Petri and Myra Hess’s famous version of the chorale Jesu, Joy of Men's Desiring, two Piano Sonatas by Haydn and Mozart’s Sonata in C major, KV330 and 20th century Russian and Georgian music. Korsantia has rearranged Gwido Agosti’s magnificent 1934 piano transcription of the last three pieces from The Firebird Suite to reflect more of Stravinsky's original orchestral sound. Stravinsky’s Tango is followed by Giya Kancheli’s Instead of Tango originally written in 1996 for violin, piano, bandoneon and double bass. Kancheli’s own piano arrangement is dedicated to three Georgian pianists, one of them Alexander Korsantia. The second disc is devoted to Sergei Prokofiev: his Pastoral Sonatina and Vision Fugitive, No 11, Op 22 bookend the Piano Sonata No 7 in B flat major and the substantial Piano Sonata No 8.