SERGEI PROKOFIEV Piano Sonatas Nos. 4, 7 & 9 Alexander Melnikov

“This first volume in the complete cycle must already be given pride of place in the discography,” declared Classica magazine upon the release of Prokofiev’s Sonatas nos. 2, 6, and 8 (awarded a “Choc” in 2016). With this new volume, Alexandre Melnikov has chosen to delve into three distinct periods of the composer’s career, ranging from the dazzling though seldom-heard no. 4 to the magisterial no. 9. Inbetween those two, the sonata no. 7 once again evokes the troubled atmosphere characteristic of the three so-called “war sonatas.” Sviatoslav Richter claimed to have learned the piece in a mere four days!