Lorenzo Meo | Visions

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Visions

Visions . piano solo recital
lorenzo meo, piano

Sergei Prokofiev . Piano Sonata No. 7 Op. 83
Sergei Prokofiev . Visions Fugitives Op. 22
Alexander Scriabin . Piano Sonata No. 5 Op. 53

About this project

Visions is a project dedicated to 20th century Russian composers Sergei Prokofiev and Alexander Scriabin, who are staples of the Russian piano literature on their native soil, though pretty rarely heard in recitals elsewhere.

Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No.7 in B flat major Op.83, also called Stalingrad, is the middle panel in Prokofiev's grand trilogy of works called War Sonatas, together with Piano Sonata No. 6 in A major Op.82 and Piano Sonata No. 8 in B flat major Op.84. Prokofiev composed it between 1939 and 1942 and received his first Stalin Prize for the work in 1943, the same year as it was premiered by Sviatoslav Richter in Moscow. It is probalbly the most popular sonata of the three as well as the shortest. The first movement, Allegro inquieto, opens with a dark and militaristic theme with insistent bass chords and crushing rhythm; then a lyrical second theme introduces gentler music in the same dark and menacing mood. A climax follows, after which the music gradually becomes calmer, to let a brief rhythmic coda reach the finish line. The second movement, Andante caloroso, features a gently rocking theme that conveys a decadent and melancholic sense; then the middle section grows to explode in a tolling-bell climax that gives way to a reprise of the theme. The last and most famous movement, Precipitato, features rhythmic jazzy elements in its first theme; the second theme later reappears bringing a feeling of increasing desperation, after which the main theme returns for a dissonant and triumphant conclusion.

Visions Fugitives Op. 22 is a set of short piano pieces written between 1915 and 1917. This peculiar gem of piano writing is one of Prokofiev's most striking and individual creations, unlike not only any other composer's piano music in tone and structure, but quite unlike much of Prokofiev's own music. Each of the 20 pieces bursts with musical ideas, and each conveys such vivid colors despite their generally short length: the range of mood and the subtle gradations of color found in this work show a deepening of expression in the young composer, not evident in many of his other piano music from the period. Its title derives from the words of Russian poet Konstantin Balmont: "In every fugitive vision I see worlds, full of the changing play of rainbow hues". This work was first published in Russia in 1917 and today it's among Prokofiev's most popular piano works, though performances of the whole collection are relatively rare.

Scriabin's piano sonata No.5 in F sharp major Op. 53, written in 1907, marks the end of his Romantic period and the beginning of his atonal period. Avoiding any traditional constraints of a central tonal area and pouring all the music into a single unique movement, Scriabin takes one step ahead in the direction of this personal upheaval. This restless excursion into the most colorful and passionate realms consists of five themes evolving throughout the piece: the intense, dissonant trill and glissando in the opening; a slow, languishing introductory theme; a dance-like presto based on material from the languishing theme and serving as the first subject group; a transition marked imperioso; and a meno vivo that serves as the second subject group. Delicate evanescent harmonies built of fourths, instead of the traditional thirds, seem to be wandering about throughout the whole piece, but they're actually leading their way to an F sharp tonal area. Just as there seems to be a resolution coming, Scriabin makes it all vanish leaving no trace. Pianist Sviatoslav Richter is said to have described it as one of the most difficult pieces in the entire piano repertory.