After his rapid tempi for the previous movements Kentner sounds really cautious here at the opening and only gets dancing a bit later,strangely,his lyrical 2nd theme then sounds too hasty!This said,many of the beauties of this marvellous piece come out well and K does well to survive the thrills & spills towards the final climax.
Still waiting for a recording doing it full justice, even after all these years!
I've known of this recording for a long time so it's great finally to hear it! However, this is not Balakirev's Sonata Op. 5 which is a youthful work dating from 1856-7. This is the Sonata in B-flat minor (without opus number) dating from 1905. The only link it has with the earlier piece is that the second movement (Mazurka) recycles the second movement of the Op. 5 sonata.
Thank you so much for your correction, which made me dive deeper to Balakirev's works. I found out that this sonata is actually "op.102".
As I don't have the score in my library, I referred to IMSLP as the source to view it when listening to Kentner's performance; and it is mentioned to be op.5 over there, which led to my mistake as well.
@xper2xper Well now I've learned something too as my score of the work shows no opus number and neither do any of the three recordings I have. I wonder if a scholar has now gone through Balakirev's works and added opus numbers or whether Balakirev noted them himself but preferred them not to be displayed on the published copies? Anyway, thanks, Opus 102 it is!
reminiscent of Lizst. Ive heard the sonata once and am taken with its depths and beauties. It deserves to be played more and to be heard in those quiet moments. Kentners artistry is full of spirit and surprises! Balakirev will be, one day, considered one of the greatest -maybe the greatest- of Russian composers for the pure, Morzartean, Bachian music he created.
After his rapid tempi for the previous movements Kentner sounds really cautious here at the opening and only gets dancing a bit later,strangely,his lyrical 2nd theme then sounds too hasty!This said,many of the beauties of this marvellous piece come out well and K does well to survive the thrills & spills towards the final climax.
Still waiting for a recording doing it full justice, even after all these years!
NOSEhow2LIV 8 months ago
Beautiful piece I liked it,but I can hear it sounds very difficult to play ! Thank you for posting it.
morinoroba 1 year ago
I've known of this recording for a long time so it's great finally to hear it! However, this is not Balakirev's Sonata Op. 5 which is a youthful work dating from 1856-7. This is the Sonata in B-flat minor (without opus number) dating from 1905. The only link it has with the earlier piece is that the second movement (Mazurka) recycles the second movement of the Op. 5 sonata.
paulprocopolis 1 year ago
@paulprocopolis
Thank you so much for your correction, which made me dive deeper to Balakirev's works. I found out that this sonata is actually "op.102".
As I don't have the score in my library, I referred to IMSLP as the source to view it when listening to Kentner's performance; and it is mentioned to be op.5 over there, which led to my mistake as well.
Thank you that I learned something new!
Cheers!
xper2xper 1 year ago
@xper2xper Well now I've learned something too as my score of the work shows no opus number and neither do any of the three recordings I have. I wonder if a scholar has now gone through Balakirev's works and added opus numbers or whether Balakirev noted them himself but preferred them not to be displayed on the published copies? Anyway, thanks, Opus 102 it is!
paulprocopolis 1 year ago
reminiscent of Lizst. Ive heard the sonata once and am taken with its depths and beauties. It deserves to be played more and to be heard in those quiet moments. Kentners artistry is full of spirit and surprises! Balakirev will be, one day, considered one of the greatest -maybe the greatest- of Russian composers for the pure, Morzartean, Bachian music he created.
amadorpheus9 1 year ago
5 stars for the piece, maybe 4 for the performance.
micheldvorsky 2 years ago