Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953)
Piano Concerto No 2, Op 16 (1912-13; reconstructed 1923)
Piano Concerto No 3, Op 26 (1921)
Piano Sonata No 7, Op 83 (1942)
Stewart Goodyear (piano)
BBC Symphony Orchestra/Andrew Litton
rec. 2024, BBC Maida Vale Studios, London (concertos), and Wyastone Concert Hall, Wyastone Leys, UK
Orchid Classics ORC100335 [75]
In April, 2020 I reviewed Stewart Goodyear’s cycle of the Beethoven piano concertos here (review), finding them to be excellent performances all. The recording was given a “Recommended” status and it well deserved it. Here Goodyear takes on three quite popular works from the 20th century: the Third Piano Concerto and Seventh Sonata have long been in the standard repertory, while the Second Piano Concerto has more recently attained that status. Because of its enormous technical and interpretive difficulties, some pianists have been reluctant to take up the Second though. But, ironically, for that same reason young virtuosos competing in major international piano competitions, eager to impress the jury, have chosen the work with about the same regularity as other warhorse concertos like the Prokofiev Third, Rachmaninov Third and Tchaikovsky First (see Footnote).
The Second Concerto, which opens the disc, is the darkest and most profound of Prokofiev’s piano concertos. Premiered in 1913, it shocked audiences and critics alike but gave the composer some notoriety—a sort of Red Badge of Courage. That version of the score was destroyed when Prokofiev left it behind in an apartment whose new tenants used it for kindling during the winter. Prokofiev reconstructed the work in 1923, substantially revising it according to the composer, and that is the version we know today.
Here Canadian pianist Stewart Goodyear turns in fine performances of all works, though I do find that I have a minor issue with his interpretation of the Second. The first movement goes brilliantly: the phrasing of the main theme is elegant and beautifully conceived, and his playing of the slightly weird second theme is equally effective, especially in its rhythmic verve. The cadenza is filled with drama and tension as it moves from the shadowy serenity at the beginning and works its way intensely toward a frantic and powerful climax. Goodyear infuses the ensuing Scherzo with all the drive and spirit necessary to be fully convincing.
The Intermezzo third movement (Allegro moderato) is well played, without doubt, but Goodyear’s brisk tempo, yielding a timing of 6:05, and his somewhat lighter approach shortchange the sense of bitterness in the sardonic main theme, which has always struck me as a sort of sinister cackling by the piano. Prokofiev wrote the concerto in the wake of the suicide of his conservatory friend, Maximilian Schmidthof, who was said to be a brilliant pianist. The composer was greatly affected by it: Schmidthof even left a farewell suicide note for Prokofiev. In any event, Goodyear makes a good case for his interpretation still and is hardly alone in his way with this movement as at least four or five other pianists play it even faster, including Yundi Li (DG) who clocks in at 5:41, the fastest among at least seventeen other accounts in my collection.
Goodyear’s opening tempo in the finale (Allegro tempestoso) sounds just right, even if it is slightly less brisk than is usual. He plays the angular and frenetic main theme with clarity and well chosen accents. Near the opening it is played four times and gradually accrues titanic technical difficulties until on its last appearance the pianist must scramble up and down the keyboard, hands leaping, hustling and nearly colliding with each other at various points. Goodyear plays this passage with utter confidence and the utmost skill, leaving little doubt he is fully in control in this challenging music. He then delivers a sensitive rendering of the haunting lyrical theme. The fast variation of it that follows is played about as well as I’ve ever heard it. Goodyear delivers the remainder of the movement with a keen sense for Prokofiev’s sometimes quirky idiom, never missing its various mood swings: he builds subtly toward the return of the main theme and the coda is utterly thrilling.
Despite my reservations about the third movement, this is a fine and quite convincing account of this great concerto. I must add that Andrew Litton who knows Prokofiev’s music quite well as evidenced by his fine recordings of all the symphonies, Romeo and Juliet Suites and other works, draws excellent playing from the BBC Symphony Orchestra throughout this concerto and in the Third as well.
Speaking of the Third, its performance is even better. In fact, it’s hard to find anything amiss here at all. The lively first movement main theme is paced slightly on the brisk side and Goodyear plays it with utterly clear articulation: compare his way of playing it with Argerich’s in any of her recordings and with Yuja Wang’s (Euroarts video), wherein some of the notes, especially the first several, rush along in a sort of breathless sonic blur. The rest of the movement is brilliantly played by Goodyear. The theme and variations second movement again divulges the pianist’s tendency for clear articulation and a sense to infuse the music with spirit and drive. He phrases each variation with a total grasp of Prokofiev’s ingenious mixture of spiky music and lyrical beauty.
The outer sections of the finale are vivacious and paced perfectly, while the inner lyrical music is played, once more, as convincingly as I’ve ever heard it. Again, there’s really nothing at all that doesn’t come across as masterly work by all parties. Everything seems so right about this performance that I find it simply stunning.
Goodyear doesn’t treat the Seventh Sonata as a flashy sort of period piece, which some pianists seem to do. He plays the dramatic opening with spirit and a crisp percussive style perfectly suited to the music. The ghostly lyrical theme that follows is phrased with great feeling and reveals the music’s dark and profound character. The development section is blistering in its seeming anger, power and heft. The rest of the movement is full of insights and high drama.
The second movement features that curious theme which has been linked to Schumann’s lied Wehmut, from his Op. 39 collection Liederkreis. Musicologist and Prokofiev biographer Daniel Jaffé has noted the similarity between the two melodies and their sharing of the E major key. Wehmut means melancholy or sadness and Jaffé believes that Prokofiev is sending the message that life under Stalin was indeed sad and melancholy. (For a more detailed explanation of this see my review of Dinara Klinton’s Prokofiev sonata cycle on Piano Classics – review.) In any event, Goodyear’s way with the music here highlights the theme’s dark character and the gripping tension that follows.
The finale is arguably the most often heard sonata movement from the 20th century as it has a second life as a popular encore in the recital hall and also following concerto performances. It is one of those pieces that most pianists seem to make exciting to one degree or another, even if many of them don’t quite get the whole right. Goodyear makes it exciting at just about the highest level: not only is his all-encompassing virtuosity on display throughout but his interpretive acumen allows his apparently inherent sense to get accents and dynamics to perfectly fit Prokofiev’s dramatic music. Listen to his phrasing of the main theme, how its drive and rhythmic aspects never get out of control but become a headlong juggernaut of sinewy energy. Moreover, here and elsewhere in this movement he does not go overboard by rushing the tempo and blurring the notes into a sonic mess as so many pianists do, even good ones. A fine performance all around.
I must say that if there is one trait about Goodyear that I greatly admire in all these works, it is his consistency of style: he goes to the heart of the piece and isn’t quirky or eccentric or imprecise in the process, thus never sounding wrong-headed or spur of the moment in his phrasing, while his dynamics, with their many gradations and subtle nuances, nearly always fit the spirit of the music. I am not suggesting he is a self-effacing, straightforward interpreter, but is instead an insightful, colorful, yet steady and dependably consistent presence at the keyboard.
The sound reproduction is excellent and the album notes by Goodyear are among the most unusual ones I have ever encountered: they are deeply personal and express strong emotion, as the pianist tells us this is the first recording he’s made since the passing of his mother. He also goes on to say he has returned to the music of Prokofiev after twenty years and found much satisfaction in this challenging endeavor. But there is also much else of great interest in the notes.
As for comparisons, let me say that in the Prokofiev Second there are many fine recordings, including those by Yuja Wang/DG, Ashkenazy/Decca, Horacio Gutierrez/Chandos, Michel Beroff/EMI, and Anna Vinnitskaya/Naive, to name just a few. This one by Goodyear, despite my reservations about the third movement, is at least as good as these. In the Third there are Argerich/EMI (with Dutoit), Janis/Mercury, Cliburn/RCA, Graffman/Sony (with Szell), Trifonov/Arthaus (video) and many others. Again, Goodyear can stand proudly with these and maybe above them all, and his sonic qualities surpass all with the possibility of Trifonov. In the Seventh Sonata there are fine efforts by Glemser/Naxos, Raekallio/Ondine, Douglas/RCA, Richter/various, Pollini/DG and others. Once more, Goodyear is truly in the running with the best of these. Overall then, this is a disc to cherish. I heartily recommend this CD despite my reservations about the Second. If you purchase this disc, you won’t regret it.
Robert Cummings
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Previous review: Néstor Castiglione (August 2024) ~ Morgan Burroughs (October 2024)
Footnote
For example, Sergei Davydchenko, playing the Prokofiev Second in the final round, captured the Gold Medal in the 2023 Tchaikovsky International Competition. The prestigious Brussels-based Queen Elisabeth Competition featured the Prokofiev Second in the final round by the eventual winner in three successive competitions: 2003 (Severin von Eckardstein), 2007 (Anna Vinnitskaya) and 2010 (Denis Kozhukin).
