Piano sonatas nos. 1, 3 & 5 ; sergei prokofiev ; vol.3

This is Alexander Melnikov's third and final CD of sonatas by Prokofiev. The Third Sonata alone is a fine example of Prokofiev's virtuoso imagination. From the flying pace, you can't tell that the sonata was composed using material "from old sketchbooks" (according to the subtitle). More modest is the Fifth Sonata, which almost looks like a sonatina. The Visions Fugitives from 1915-17 are also… beautiful. The title refers to a phrase by the symbolist poet Konstantin Balmont: 'In every fleeting vision I see worlds, filled with the changing play of rainbows'. Fleeting indeed, but not vague. Rather, the pieces are colorful and pointed, like shards of glass in a kaleidoscope. (HJ)more