Raekallio: Mvt 1 - 00:00 Mvt 2 - 08:05 Mvt 3 - 15:00 Uehara: Mvt 1 - 18:01 Mvt 2 - 26:44 Mvt 3 - 33:34 Chiu: Mvt 1 - 37:14 Mvt 2 - 46:14 Mvt 3 - 53:20 Raekallio’s playing is mad. No point describing - just listen to it. Uehara has an unorthodox but weirdly effective approach: she uses a decent amount of pedal and quite a lot of expressive inflection that you’d think would be out of place in Prokofiev, but it comes together really well. There’s a lot of brooding menace in the quieter, foggier passages, and she can build up into some truly epic climaxes (23:07 is a great example of her sound). The Precipitato in particular sounds really fresh: it’s fully voiced (as in, it’s played throughout like it has an actual melody) but has a lot of swagger and even old-school majesty. Chiu’s playing is arch-Prokofiev: brittle and percussive, with perfect clarity. It’s pretty remarkable how he manages to move between coldness and whimsicality with so little pedal, though he does whip it out for special moments. As is usual with him, there’s a lot of creative stuff going on, and some of the things he does with colours are incredible: see the change in colour between 54:53 and 54:57, the dynamic oscillations at 54:04 (and similar), and the way he highlights snatches of lyricism at 53:50 (and similar).
I run pretty hot and cold on Chiu's playing in general (he's relentlessly creative, sometimes that pays off and sometimes his process seems to turn out some weird results.) That being said, he has to be one of the most consistently great living interpreters of Prokofiev. His recording of complete Prokofiev is uniformly stupendous.
So many notes so fast! Better to go into it knowing you aren't going to hit them all and let 'er rip. Raikallio knows this, love him here. Thanks for the fun comp survey.
after listening to the 3rd movement, I find myself doing everything in 7/8. Chopping onions in 7/8. Typing up an e-mail in 7/8. Taking a walk? Every third step takes 50% longer.
Raekallio is definetly the best performer of prokofiev 7th i ever heard in my life . Seems that absolute holding of tempo character , negation of pedal makes this sonata sound as it needs .
Matti Raekallio has so much drive, straightforwardness and - excuse me - badassery. I can clearly hear war: machines, disaster and bombs. This really opened my eyes and ears of the genius of this sonata 🙏🏻
I have played this work 25 years ago and the Uehara version is utterly incredible and profoundly imaginative. It becomes her own composition, and so many inner voices even I couldn’t even imagine. Sometimes the dramatic and tragic sense wasn’t conveyed (esp. 2nd mov.) but my god what imagination in her playing. Wow.
On a random note: my guess is that most of you haven’t been directed here from Gran Turismo 5, but if you have - it strikes me that they really should have used Raekallio’s Precipitato for its intro cinematic, because no other bit of pre-1950 music reminds me of a gorgeously overdesigned hunk of metal screaming down a racetrack at irresponsible speed. Instead they chose Lang Lang’s terrible recording, which is kind of a shame.
Well I suppose Yamauchi chose friendship over quality as they used Lang Lang's recording in GT6 as well with him playing rachmaninoff, somewhat better I guess. Also I think the slower tempo and dynamics in his prokofiev recording are meant to represent a factory line which is more organized and mechanical, but indeed in the final analysis I did not like it so much either. Anyway, nice job uploading this, keep up with the amazing work. Looking forward for more.
The RH rhythms are uneven, the LH lacks any rhythmic drive (many of the softer notes are basically inaudible, and the accents are limp), and all the interesting changes in texture are glossed over (most egregiously, the staccati in the inner sections are missing).
Dear cherished owner of this channel, before I listen to what is surely another gem (ive been waiting for some Prokofiev uploads!) Just wanted to let u know that the Brahms double piano video is missing :(
"Theme Group 1, Theme 1, containing motifs (a) (m.1), (b) (m.2-3), and (c) (*m.5, the “Fate motif” from Beethoven’s 5th*)." OMG I would never thought of that ! how clever
The use of pedal in Uehara's interpretation is quite surprising, Raekallio's interpretation is quite crazy though. In my opinion Richter has the definitive version of this, and live!
"stupidly magnificent" - best description ever - that opening.... I'm trying to work while listening, I don't think that'll work with this piece. I don't know if it the composer intended it to be funny but I actually laughed at 0:15.
As a composer, I have often thought of-and described-some moments in Prokofiev‘a music as funny or hilarious. I think you’re right on the money. Maybe it was a way of standing against that era, but he is very funny, very often . And he off-plays it with some of the most beautiful music anyone could imagine. It’s why he’s my favorite.
@@MattWeisherComposer Sometimes his music feels like falling in love for the first time, other times it expresses profound pain and other times it's like you are being chased by a kalashnikov wielding circus orangutan riding a unicycle. Often all at once in the same piece.
Really love that you chose this! Great insight and comments as always, and thank you for drawing attention to recordings that I otherwise would not have picked out. Now how about doing the Op. 75 10 pieces from Romeo and Juliet next? :)
Interesting, I've never heard any of these interpretations before. Out of curiosity, why did you not include Grigory Sokolov's recording of this? it's phenomenal.
it looks like it was made in musescore or something. im not really sure why because there's other channels on RUclips (Prok Prok, Olla Vogala) that have actual Prokofiev scores in their video and the quality looks fine
The other scores on youtube are of comparatively low quality,. Ashish has a reputation of uploading high quality scores - I'd assume he'd like to uphold that reputation.
It really depends. I've played this sonata (badly), so I was familiar with the basic ideas and most of the time was spent basically putting in the timestamps for the analysis. So about one hour, give or take, for this whole description? (TBH Prokofiev's sonatas are pretty classically structured, so I don't anticipate that doing any of the others will take much longer. Berman's also got a very good book on them.) But for some other works it can take very long, especially if there hasn't been much academic work done on the piece or there aren't performance guides available. Both Rachmaninoff Sonatas took about half a day to comb through because they were so intricate and I was basically on my own for most of the analysis. Most of the Beethoven sonatas took about an hour+ because they're actually quite straightforward even if they're very innovative, with the exception of the Hammerklavier, which took much longer because it was huge. And there are lots of good guides around (I referenced Tovey pretty liberally, because his analysis really was the most practical for the listener). Liszt's Bm took about half a day just because its structure is so extended and complex that it was really difficult even deciding how many sections it had, though there was lots of excellent reference material. Chopin's Bb minor also took pretty long since there was lots of reference material but very little of it discussed motivic integration or structure, so I had to do it on my own. As you can tell, it's the analysis that takes up the most time -- the general description/overview thingy usually takes 10-15 minutes (after the analysis is done), and going through the performances to see if anything sticks out which is worth commenting on just takes as long as the performances themselves. Usually that adds up to the commentary taking 3 hours to do if it's a sonata (minus time selecting recordings and making the video). If it's something where structure doesn't matter that much: less than 1 hour.
By the way, what is your email address? I'd like to send you links to some unlisted sheet music videos I uploaded not too long ago, if you're interested.
Raekallio really raised the bar for this sonata - his choice of tempo for the third movement feels like the "right" one to me, and all the others too slow. Something is gained by his manic pace and sparing use of pedal - the ear has less time to register the dissonances and odd time signature, and they meld together like a whirring engine. And I've never been so surprised by a C Major (seven) chord than at 17:40!
No, “caloroso” means warm or hearty in Italian. You can see the root “calor” appear in the English word calorie, which is a unit of heat (or, more broadly, energy).
jeje, igual lo digo de manera muy personal. Estoy mas acostumbrado a escuchar a Mozart y Beethoven, cuando paso a estos compositores como Prokofiev o Rachmaninov siempre me suenan re fumados...
Have any of you watched Lisitsa's video of the 3rd movement?, for me it's the better one because it doesn't sounds like a disaster like Lang Lang, Buniatishvili and uehera's second movement it's lit one of the best I've ever listened too (but im too fan of Lisitsa so I rather Lisitsa in this sonata).
Raekallio:
Mvt 1 - 00:00
Mvt 2 - 08:05
Mvt 3 - 15:00
Uehara:
Mvt 1 - 18:01
Mvt 2 - 26:44
Mvt 3 - 33:34
Chiu:
Mvt 1 - 37:14
Mvt 2 - 46:14
Mvt 3 - 53:20
Raekallio’s playing is mad. No point describing - just listen to it. Uehara has an unorthodox but weirdly effective approach: she uses a decent amount of pedal and quite a lot of expressive inflection that you’d think would be out of place in Prokofiev, but it comes together really well. There’s a lot of brooding menace in the quieter, foggier passages, and she can build up into some truly epic climaxes (23:07 is a great example of her sound). The Precipitato in particular sounds really fresh: it’s fully voiced (as in, it’s played throughout like it has an actual melody) but has a lot of swagger and even old-school majesty. Chiu’s playing is arch-Prokofiev: brittle and percussive, with perfect clarity. It’s pretty remarkable how he manages to move between coldness and whimsicality with so little pedal, though he does whip it out for special moments. As is usual with him, there’s a lot of creative stuff going on, and some of the things he does with colours are incredible: see the change in colour between 54:53 and 54:57, the dynamic oscillations at 54:04 (and similar), and the way he highlights snatches of lyricism at 53:50 (and similar).
I run pretty hot and cold on Chiu's playing in general (he's relentlessly creative, sometimes that pays off and sometimes his process seems to turn out some weird results.) That being said, he has to be one of the most consistently great living interpreters of Prokofiev. His recording of complete Prokofiev is uniformly stupendous.
instablaster.
@@huathebard Chiu's interpretation of the second movement of the 4th sonata is extremely weird and i can't understand why he chose to do that
So many notes so fast! Better to go into it knowing you aren't going to hit them all and let 'er rip. Raikallio knows this, love him here. Thanks for the fun comp survey.
19:28 20:30 20:39 22:11 22:19
after listening to the 3rd movement, I find myself doing everything in 7/8. Chopping onions in 7/8. Typing up an e-mail in 7/8. Taking a walk? Every third step takes 50% longer.
Chopin onions? :)
That's taking the term "ear worm" to an unexpected new level.
33:34 - Did I just hear a melody? How does Uehara do that??? This has to be the most gorgeous Precipitato I’ve ever heard.
"THAT'S MY TEACHER"
- me yelling into the void in my living room after the end of Raekallio's third movement
Raekallio's set of sonatas is basically the best on the market right now. Kind of weird it isn't much more well-known.
Agreed
And not just sonatas, but really all things Prokofiev. Have you heard his recording of the sarcasms?
@@Pianist46 I bought that recording after about listening to 30 seconds of him playing the 8th sonata. Stupidly good stuff.
MY TEACHER TOOOOO
raekalio's first movement,uehera's second movement and chiu's third movement were just.... ewesome. incredible
I'm agree.
This is perfect right here - I love chiu's 3rd and raekalio's 1st.
I prefer raekalio first and third overn chiu but that just my opinion
@@AsrielKujo RAEKALLIO THIRD AAAAAAAAA
Exactly what I was saying to my self
Raekallio is definetly the best performer of prokofiev 7th i ever heard in my life . Seems that absolute holding of tempo character , negation of pedal makes this sonata sound as it needs .
dude hes a fricking BOSS
THERE IS A JAPANESE ATHLETE YOUNG MAN WHO PLAYS THIS EVEN MORE THRILLING, WITH AN ANTI
Matti Raekallio has so much drive, straightforwardness and - excuse me - badassery. I can clearly hear war: machines, disaster and bombs.
This really opened my eyes and ears of the genius of this sonata 🙏🏻
Matti Raekallio's precipitato sounds like a cage match between a man and a grand piano.
I wonder who won.
Well, given how much it resembles Richter vs Appassionata 3rd movement, I say Raekallio won
Raekallio’s precipitato is like Richter’s Appassionata 3rd movement; no one else has been able to replicate the sheer speed and frenzied energy in it
Chiu's dynamic contrasts are INSANE.
I have played this work 25 years ago and the Uehara version is utterly incredible and profoundly imaginative. It becomes her own composition, and so many inner voices even I couldn’t even imagine. Sometimes the dramatic and tragic sense wasn’t conveyed (esp. 2nd mov.) but my god what imagination in her playing. Wow.
On a random note: my guess is that most of you haven’t been directed here from Gran Turismo 5, but if you have - it strikes me that they really should have used Raekallio’s Precipitato for its intro cinematic, because no other bit of pre-1950 music reminds me of a gorgeously overdesigned hunk of metal screaming down a racetrack at irresponsible speed.
Instead they chose Lang Lang’s terrible recording, which is kind of a shame.
Once you hear Raekaillo’s version it is hard to be satisfied with any other! Mad and bad and it makes me glad.
Bang bang
Well to be fair it was fitting for them to use the popstar-of-piano's recording because they followed it immediately with My Chemical Romance
Well I suppose Yamauchi chose friendship over quality as they used Lang Lang's recording in GT6 as well with him playing rachmaninoff, somewhat better I guess. Also I think the slower tempo and dynamics in his prokofiev recording are meant to represent a factory line which is more organized and mechanical, but indeed in the final analysis I did not like it so much either.
Anyway, nice job uploading this, keep up with the amazing work. Looking forward for more.
The RH rhythms are uneven, the LH lacks any rhythmic drive (many of the softer notes are basically inaudible, and the accents are limp), and all the interesting changes in texture are glossed over (most egregiously, the staccati in the inner sections are missing).
The A section of the second movement is so beautiful.
Good times, when I still wrote music that sounds like this...
I really love your commentary and analysis. Helps elucidate the music very nicely!
Raekallio and Chiu are doing amazing work on this!
Great analysis and great video. I much prefer Pollini's recording, but I'm glad to have access to so many great performances of my favorite sonata
Prokofiev, you bloody genius.
Dear cherished owner of this channel, before I listen to what is surely another gem (ive been waiting for some Prokofiev uploads!) Just wanted to let u know that the Brahms double piano video is missing :(
ah ignore me, glad to see its there again!
such a banger
"Theme Group 1, Theme 1, containing motifs (a) (m.1), (b) (m.2-3), and (c) (*m.5, the “Fate motif” from Beethoven’s 5th*)." OMG I would never thought of that ! how clever
The use of pedal in Uehara's interpretation is quite surprising, Raekallio's interpretation is quite crazy though. In my opinion Richter has the definitive version of this, and live!
Could this little moment at 51:47 (second movement) be a reference to the first movement?
FINALLY PROKOFIEV!
Just wow 👌
"stupidly magnificent" - best description ever - that opening.... I'm trying to work while listening, I don't think that'll work with this piece. I don't know if it the composer intended it to be funny but I actually laughed at 0:15.
As a composer, I have often thought of-and described-some moments in Prokofiev‘a music as funny or hilarious. I think you’re right on the money. Maybe it was a way of standing against that era, but he is very funny, very often . And he off-plays it with some of the most beautiful music anyone could imagine. It’s why he’s my favorite.
@@MattWeisherComposer Sometimes his music feels like falling in love for the first time, other times it expresses profound pain and other times it's like you are being chased by a kalashnikov wielding circus orangutan riding a unicycle. Often all at once in the same piece.
Really love that you chose this! Great insight and comments as always, and thank you for drawing attention to recordings that I otherwise would not have picked out. Now how about doing the Op. 75 10 pieces from Romeo and Juliet next? :)
Lisitsa's third movement is truly beautiful, you ought to listen to it!
Always superb. Thank you!
Interesting, I've never heard any of these interpretations before. Out of curiosity, why did you not include Grigory Sokolov's recording of this? it's phenomenal.
way too heavy
hey Ashish, how did you get hold of this score scan? I thought all Prokofiev scores were caught up in red tape right now
it looks like it was made in musescore or something. im not really sure why because there's other channels on RUclips (Prok Prok, Olla Vogala) that have actual Prokofiev scores in their video and the quality looks fine
The other scores on youtube are of comparatively low quality,. Ashish has a reputation of uploading high quality scores - I'd assume he'd like to uphold that reputation.
Well, the PD-US stuff is fine now.
Great post & info. Think you might have meant "stupendous"?
Prokofiev is Crazy? 0:15
17:22
My favourite part of the sonata lol
but you ended up using pollini's account instead
@@mcig98 Surprise
@@calebhu6383 why?
This question may have been asked several times already, but: How long does it take you to write your descriptions, especially this one?
It really depends. I've played this sonata (badly), so I was familiar with the basic ideas and most of the time was spent basically putting in the timestamps for the analysis. So about one hour, give or take, for this whole description? (TBH Prokofiev's sonatas are pretty classically structured, so I don't anticipate that doing any of the others will take much longer. Berman's also got a very good book on them.)
But for some other works it can take very long, especially if there hasn't been much academic work done on the piece or there aren't performance guides available. Both Rachmaninoff Sonatas took about half a day to comb through because they were so intricate and I was basically on my own for most of the analysis. Most of the Beethoven sonatas took about an hour+ because they're actually quite straightforward even if they're very innovative, with the exception of the Hammerklavier, which took much longer because it was huge. And there are lots of good guides around (I referenced Tovey pretty liberally, because his analysis really was the most practical for the listener).
Liszt's Bm took about half a day just because its structure is so extended and complex that it was really difficult even deciding how many sections it had, though there was lots of excellent reference material. Chopin's Bb minor also took pretty long since there was lots of reference material but very little of it discussed motivic integration or structure, so I had to do it on my own.
As you can tell, it's the analysis that takes up the most time -- the general description/overview thingy usually takes 10-15 minutes (after the analysis is done), and going through the performances to see if anything sticks out which is worth commenting on just takes as long as the performances themselves. Usually that adds up to the commentary taking 3 hours to do if it's a sonata (minus time selecting recordings and making the video). If it's something where structure doesn't matter that much: less than 1 hour.
By the way, what is your email address? I'd like to send you links to some unlisted sheet music videos I uploaded not too long ago, if you're interested.
@@AshishXiangyiKumar Thanks for that information, I was curious as well.
Thanks for uploding this! The sheet music is so clear. Could you tell me how can I get that?
would be much nicer in correct speed! this is abaut 25% too fast!
1:33
2:48
6:04
Prokofiev!
Note the similarity of the main theme of mvt.2 to "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas."
It's actually based on a Schumann song, Wehmut.
56:50
Raekallio really raised the bar for this sonata - his choice of tempo for the third movement feels like the "right" one to me, and all the others too slow. Something is gained by his manic pace and sparing use of pedal - the ear has less time to register the dissonances and odd time signature, and they meld together like a whirring engine. And I've never been so surprised by a C Major (seven) chord than at 17:40!
5:25
Last word in first line of commentary, did you mean "stupendously"?
Thanks for uploading this, and for your insightful comments! At least, I assume they're insightful, I'm too ignorant to be able to tell.
is the 1st movt considered atonal?
No
mvt 3 is the beginning of ragtime
Lol, 1942 is the beginning of ragtime? More like the end.
You're right this is ragtime on drugs
casper5314 Not really. The rhythm isn't right.
Very good but shouldn't caloroso be coldly or callously rather than warm and hearty
No, “caloroso” means warm or hearty in Italian. You can see the root “calor” appear in the English word calorie, which is a unit of heat (or, more broadly, energy).
Uehara who?
lmgtfy.com/?q=uehara+pianist
haha ashish you are so rude dude
Pshaw, all in good humour!
Well im just curious if you meant hiromi
In a much fantasy universe I'd get to upload Hiromi's stuff, but this is clearly not her!
Algo se fumó Prokofiev
los interpretes, no prokofiev. Prokofiev lo habra escrito pensando en como sera interpretado segun como a el le parezca.
jeje, igual lo digo de manera muy personal. Estoy mas acostumbrado a escuchar a Mozart y Beethoven, cuando paso a estos compositores como Prokofiev o Rachmaninov siempre me suenan re fumados...
Sebastian Martini bueno, Prokofiev puede ser, pero rachmaninoff no tanto
Es cierto, Rachmaninov es mucho mas romántico, no tan distante de clasicismo.
Why is it in a major? It is atonal tho.
It's not atonal lol
What? No, it's not atonal.
And by the way, the sonata in A major is #6 (the first war sonata), this is I'm Bb major. :)
@@GUILLOM could you please upload the unfinished 10th sonata on your channel?
@@CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji sheep already did
Have any of you watched Lisitsa's video of the 3rd movement?, for me it's the better one because it doesn't sounds like a disaster like Lang Lang, Buniatishvili and uehera's second movement it's lit one of the best I've ever listened too (but im too fan of Lisitsa so I rather Lisitsa in this sonata).
Still can't understand this music........and don't want to honestly. People talking about harmonies and lyricism.....where is the melody........??
Oh, it's there. Listen more closely, or take a look at the analysis Ashish put together as a start.
(a more obvious melody is at 1:33)
Too fast Raekallio.
Great classic Russian melody! Puts me in the mind of Tchaikovsky.
ublade82 wat
Great piece, atrocious inhuman banging artless careless shameful performance by the first pianist
Uehara is like last Pogorelich. Mannerist , unmusical
Awful melody 🤨😖