Customer Reviews

Prokofiev: Complete Piano Sonatas

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Although this was the first recording of the complete Prokofiev sonatas (undertaken in 1989), it is still for me the yardstick by which all subsequent versions are measured. Although this unjustly underrated United States pianist is a renowned Prokofiev expert she wears her scholarship joyously with an exuberance and spontaneity that lunges out of the speakers. The angularity, muscularity and acrobatics that embody Prokofiev's unpredictability are conveyed with such wit and bravura flourish. Her high sensitivity to shaping of lyrical line shows Barbara Nissman having a love affair with the most fecund melodist of the twentieth century. It's this very enthusiasm and close identity with the core of Prokofiev's style that set these performances alight. A bouquet for Pierian Recording Society in archiving this classic set of CDs and saving them permanently from the deletions axe. Ian Dando, music critic New Zealand Listener.

This 3 CD set includes all of the Prokofiev piano sonatas (including both versions of No. 5 and the tiny, interesting fragment of No. 10) along with the complete Visions Fugitives, Sarcasms, the Four Pieces (Op. 4), and Toccata. All are extremely well performed, and the recording is excellent (a surprise, since this is a re-issue of an '80s Sony digital recording, and many of those were unbearably harsh-sounding).

Ms. Nissman demonstrates a very high degree of musicianship on these recordings. Literally every one of these performances is a candidate for best-ever recording of the particular piece. Considering the biggies with whom she is competing (e.g., Pogorelich in Sonata No. 6, Horowitz in No. 7, Richter in No. 8), that's saying a lot. Throw in the good modern recording, and buying this set becomes a no-brainer for people who like Prokofiev's piano music.

I can hardly wait for Nissman's forthcoming Prokofiev Piano Concertos series, especially No 2, which has never had a totally satisfactory recording (if only someone could combine the good points of Browning's and Feltsman's versions of that one).

Many of us remember the excitement at the appearance, in the late 1980s, of Barbara Nissman's recordings of the complete Prokofiev piano sonatas on Newport Classics. It was the first complete set ever released, as far as I know, and was immediately a best seller. Unfortunately, though, the Newport CDs are no longer in print. Enter Pierian Records. Pierian Records is a non-profit company, run pretty much as a one-man show by Karl Miller in Austin, Texas and 'dedicated to the preservation of historic recordings and obscure literature.' They have released a number of recordings by Barbara Nissman, surely one of our best American pianists. [See my review of her Liszt B minor sonata CD.] Nissman is a specialist in the piano music of Prokofiev, Ginastera, and Bartók and has, in fact, written a book about the piano music of the latter. She wrote the extremely helpful notes for this 3CD set. I have heard her play most of the Prokofiev sonatas (as well as various smaller pieces) in recital and can assure you that she conveys these pieces as well as anyone before the public today. It is true that some of the pianistic big guns have recorded some of the sonatas - Richter, Cliburn, Horowitz, Argerich - and a newer virtuoso pianist, Bernd Glemser, has recorded the lot. But Nissman's traversal has stood the test of time.

This set contains all nine sonatas (plus the small bit of Sonata 10 that survives), including the two versions of Sonata 5. Also included are the Four Pieces, Op. 4; Sarcasms, Op. 17; Visions Fugitives, Op. 22, and the Toccata, Op. 11. Some highlights: A blistering Toccata. The opening statement of the first of the three 'War Sonatas,' Sonata 6. The whole of Sonatas 7 and 8, and particularly the more forceful aspects of both of them, and not forgetting the casually swinging walking tenths of No. 7's slow movement. Both versions of Sonata 5 (so often derided as inferior; Nissman makes a case for both versions). An insouciant performance of the sweetly neoclassic Sonata 9, so reminiscent of the Classical Symphony written decades before.

If you're in the market for a complete set of these epochal sonatas - perhaps the most important set of piano sonatas of the 20th century - you should strongly consider these.

CD1=74:46
CD2=70:58
CD3-64:30

Scott Morrison

Nissman's playing is exceptional on several levels. First, there is the intelligence and study that rings through. It is obvious that she is detail oriented and scholarly in her interpretive decisions. For example she treats the two versions of the 5th sonata differently. The revised 5th sonata is treated with an understanding that the revision occurred much later in Prokofiev's life when his approach had shifted. Second, her playing is technically clean and polished - you can hear every detail. Lastly, and most importantly, her playing is soulful and revealing. A great artist can make music where others fail to see it. Bronfman is a fine performer, however his 4th sonata doesn't hold a candle to Nissman's. She brings out nuances and subtleties that are glossed over by Bronfman. In fact her rendition of the 4th sonata is worth of any accolade by the classical recording industry (namely Penguin rosettes and the like). It baffles me that this cycle is not on the radar screen of more music guides. It would be on my desert island CD list without a question.