Anna Vinnitskaya Plays Prokofiev Ravel Piano CTOS Audio CD – CD, October 26, 2010

This reading of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2 came just days after me having watched the 2003 Korean film 'Memory of Murders.' As theatrical excitement, psychological shadows and emotional impact of the film still haunted me, the first movement here lent a miraculously coherent backdrop to the misty, mysterious, and indeed bloody prairies that expanded across the Hwaseong area. Compared with the much praised Guriérrez–Järvi version, or the others such as Bolet, Bronfman, Kissin, Wang–Dudamel, Li–Ozawa, Rana–Pappano, Ashkenazy which I subsequently sampled, the opening stiffness of calm as maintained by Vinnitskaya sets an atmosphere that is all the more ominous, sad, and piercing, with carefully and precisely gradated emotions built in as the musical theme reaches out. I don't know if the pianist ever watched the film or had something deeply tragic in her mind, but to me her rendition, while bearing all the virtuosity required to pull off the piece, digs much deeper to the human soul beyond spectaculars or sarcasms. The relatively slow cadenza is breath-taking, such as the terrifyingly grotesque large jumps halfway through, reminding me of the brutal crime scenes and utter helplessness of the police involved investigating. The crystalline tension created by slowing down is reminiscent of Tamás Vásáry's unique way of playing Chopin's C major etude. Each doubled note of Vinnitskaya's bears emotion and stretch of energy that draw the listener's attention. When the orchestra announces its return with strings and flutes shrieking in unison up and down their higher ranges, isn't the sound effect akin to that years later emerging from Bernard Herrmann's opening soundtrack for Hitchcock's 'Vertigo'? The whole concerto, thanks to the joint force of these players, once again reminds us of the brilliance, depth, and enduring significance of Prokofiev's music. Immediately following, even Ravel's concerto sounds slightly bland.

Looks like this is out-of-print, luckily I already have it. However it is disturbing that if I wanted to buy this GREAT recording for someone else, it isn't possible. eBay and B&N don't have copies of it either. I try to have all the discs of all my favorite classical artists, but this bothers me that there is NOTHING here.

The Prokofiev second piano concerto has increased its popularity over the last 20 years, and in the Belgian Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition it is by now the concerto most often played in the finale by the winner. Abdel Rahman El Bacha did it in 1978, Severin von Eckardstein did it in 2003, and this year Denis Kozhukhin did it too. In 2007 it was Anna Vinnitskaya's turn to ride this particular war horse to glory, though I personally found her performance in the finale to be forced and in places badly coordinated with the orchestra. Maybe she herself felt that she deserved a return game, because this autumn she produced this disc (same conductor as in the competition, different orchestra) which puts all earlier critisism to shame and shows both pianist and music in the best possible light.The concerto in G minor is a troubled work, full of both sorrow and anger, and it takes not just considerable technical skills but also a great artist to give it the treatment it deserves. In this recording everything - soloist, conductor, orchestra, recording technique - comes together to produce a true reference to be revered by all who love this music. The tempi are just right in every movement, and the brillance of the piano playing never blurs the fact that we are dealing with serious matters. The beginning of the third movement that in other recordings has reminded me of somebody trying to drag a dead cow up a mountain by the tail, is here truly both ominous and mischievous, and I guarantee that the tour de force of the finale will take you breath away. The huge five minute candenza of the first movement sounds in places almost stifled with grief (before this only von Eckardstein has dared to be this emotional), and still one must marvel at the absolutely flawless playing of this torrent of notes that has defied many a concert pianist over the years. The soloist is spotlighted just enough to let us enjoy passages that are usually drowned by the orchestra, and with a sound that is impressively full and at the same time razor sharp full marks have to go to the Naïve sound engineers as well.After a performance like that, one rather expects the Ravel G major concerto to disappoint - especially with the many first-class recordings of this work available - but here as well I find it all but impossible to put my finger on anything I should like to change. There is charm and fleet-footed merriment galore, while the nocturnal adagio assai (played wonderfully "chaud-froi"), like the tolling of the grandfather clock in Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death", demands silent introspection in the midst of care-free fun and dance. In other words: Ravel at his best, and amazingly well served.To sum up let me just say: this is a disc you simply have to have - beg, steal or borrow. If it is not THE version of the Prokofiev concerto (and I hope the question-mark in the heading will save me from some of the fatwas that might otherwise be brought down on me) I have not quite met its match so far. Give it a shot and if you disagree significantly, please let me know who does it better. I've tried Ashkenazy, Rudy, Krainjew, Gutiérrez, Paik, Bronfman, Toradze, Feltsman, Kissin and even Marshev - and some, to be sure, are not bad, but ... Anna Vinnitskaya is a new star on the horizon; no doubt about it.