Pianist
Stewart Goodyear
has won praise for his
Beethoven
interpretations, but from the evidence here, he is already well along on a second specialty.
Sergei Prokofiev
was a virtuoso pianist himself, and many of his keyboard works, none more than the three included here, were frequently played by the great 20th century figures of the keyboard, like
Ashkenazy
and
Horowitz
.
Goodyear
handles with great ease the finger-busting movements like the "Precipitato" finale of the
Piano Sonata No. 7 in B flat major, Op. 83
. Yet he also catches the grim, implacable quality of that movement that reflects its status as one of the composer's War Sonatas. In the
Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16
, and
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26
, he is equally good, understanding that these pieces had roots in
Prokofiev
's early neoclassic style but also marked his point of departure from that. His passagework is precise and forceful, and the accent-mark-heavy giant cadenza in the first movement of the
Piano Concerto No. 2
is a real thrill in
's hands. However, he makes room for the lyricism of the second themes and the slow movements. This album wasn't conceived as a whole; the
Piano Sonata No. 7
was recorded in a different location from that of the two concertos. Yet
's strengths run from beginning to end and continue to confirm a major talent. ~ James Manheim