Mosolov - Piano Sonata No. 5; I "Lento grave - Allegro affanato"

First movement from the Piano Sonata No. 5 in D minor Op. 12 (1925).

Alexander Mosolov (1900-1973) was a part of the Soviet Avant-Garde prominent in the 1920s. He was oppressed by the RAPM (Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians) for writing inaccessible and highly pessimistic music; i.e., not conforming to Soviet Realism. By 1929 his compositions were banned and in 1936 he moved to Central Asia to collect folk music. From then until his death, Mosolov abandoned his earlier compositional style and wrote tame often folk-inspired works.

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Music

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• mosolov
• mossolov
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• scriabin
• shostakovich
• prokofiev

[bartje11]

Amazing that people nit-pick over who is the best and bla,bla,bla.

I am glad there are pianists who can actually play this and do it justice. Lombardi plays it better than anybody on this forum, I dare to bet.

The best captains are always on shore hardly ever on board.

[Hexameron]

We have a surprisingly hefty discography, as any pianist who has recorded Mosolov almost always tackles the 5th sonata: Schleiermacher, Henck, Lisichenko, Rothenberg, and Khuntsariya. Lombardi is in the top-tier, I think, and he's the only one I've heard who plays the last movement with special interpretative clairvoyance, expressive power, and an appropriately slow tempo.

[Impressionist1]

not good performance,the pianist doesn't respect the script enough ...but the piece is magnificent.

[Hexameron]

I'm wary of lambasting any pianist's interpretation of this, especially since Mosolov's music is rarely performed or recorded. But who do you think does better?

[John11inch]

Great upload. Although I have to ask why you didn't upload lurischenko's (spelling, dun have it in front of me)?

[Hexameron]

Of all the renditions I've heard of this particular sonata, I just personally prefer Lombardi's... He gives a more Romantic execution than others. What he does in the final movement is astounding; no one else I've heard delivers it with such menacing power.

[xodn3300]

what lovely melodies and ostinatos

[JChangPianist]

Repulsive, abhorrent, and corrupt...

I cannot express my admiration for artists and composers who can bring ugliness into music and art. Thank you so much for uploading this.

[John11inch]

I am wondering if there are any references to Busoni's Sonatina sans Tonalite in that opening passage; they seem highly similar from a harmonic point of view.

[thetamman]

The rising fourth motive in the first bar: a quotation of Scriabin's 4th Sonata?

[tempodimarcia]

I don't like Mosolov's other piano sonatas much, but this one is amazing. :X

[scriabinwasmydad]

Mosolov's sound world is pretty much an advancement of Scriabin's later works, yet I feel Mosolov's music should be interpreted as if it were Scriabin's own late pieces. This sonata is amazing!