Prokofiev Piano Sonata No. 8 in B-flat Major, Op. 84 (Boris Berman)

This is the third of the trilogy of works dubbed the War Sonatas. Its approximately five-year gestation was a period during which the exceedingly busy Prokofiev also wrote the Piano Sonatas No. 6 and No. 7, the first version of his opera War and Peace, the ballet Cinderella, and other works. Cast in three movements, the Eighth is at once the gentlest and most tortured of the War Sonatas. The outer panels are the longest in any Prokofiev sonata, with the first his largest by far. Marked Andante dolce -- Allegro Moderato, it features two main themes, the first lyrical and mysterious in its wandering sense of melancholy and suppressed suffering, and the second (3:43) conveying a feeling of desolation, its melody beginning quietly in the bass and concluding in a surreal mood in the upper register. The development section (5:40) defies convention: rather than working toward greater complexity, the music develops backward, reducing its expressive character to its rudimentary and most violent aspects (7:03). A melancholy reprise closes out this profound movement. For the middle panel, Prokofiev uses a charming, bright theme from his abandoned orchestral score Eugene Onegin. This brief, playful minuet provides deft contrast to the more serious outer panels. The finale opens with a driving theme, but quickly turns heroic and majestic. The middle section (23:34) builds to a weirdly powerful climax from seemingly insignificant rhythmic leftovers. The main material is reprised and the music ends ambivalently, with a rhythmic motif thrashing about before suddenly running short of energy.
0:00 - Andante dolce -- Allegro Moderato
16:31 - Andante sognando
21:11 - Vivace

[@hugginduff]

he has the most beautiful tone. love Berman playing Prokofiev

[@slowloris4346]

Man this performance has really grown on me. What really stands out to me in this recording is the way Berman brings out , as the score demands, and makes the left hand sing from around ~ 5:50 and again at ~6:30 onwards which is actually the first theme from the beginning of the piece.

[@mathemadician8609]

This is the most epic piano sonata I've heard, and I absolutely love the interpretation.

[@XavierMacX]

The ending to the first movement is the most metal thing I've ever heard.

[@Nethseaar]

What an incredible experience! My heart is racing, and I have tears in my eyes.
What a triumph!
It haunts and excites me in equal measure. I must study this music and learn its meaning. It is Prokofiev’s sixth piano sonata, but transformed. And such a fascination with the third movement of the sixth. It’s strange; like a mind virus. It’s irresistible, and its wandering placidness is unknowable to me.
How is this sonata so much another sonata, and yet so much its own? The desolate mystery of the first movement’s B theme feels heartbreakingly familiar, but like a dream. A persistent dream. A reality locked away.
Спасибо большое for uploading, and for including the sheet music. Once I started listening, I found I couldn’t stop, and the markings held me transfixed.

[@danal81]

Could you have been more soap opera in that comment?

[@christophera3330]

@@danal81 It seems like he spent quite some time on that comment, indeed.

[@nss4472]

Bulls.. contesters)) Thay aren't able to understand poetry and deep thoughts😮

[@brynbstn]

Such a great work of the solo piano oeuvre, thank you combining audio with score

[@alexmolt]

Hello. Sorry, I would like you to rate another recording of this sonata that I posted on my channel (last video), if it possible
of course)))

[@christianvennemann9008]

God, you can just hear the loss and suffering from WWII conveyed in the music of the 1st movement, from the somber nostalgic feeling of the main theme, to the menacing, hurried theme in the "Allegro moderato" section, to the dark, tortured, baleful climax (which, in my opinion, seems to evoke the sounds of the war's victims wailing) before going back to the first theme. The ending of the movement is where it all comes crashing down completely.

[@Whatismusic123]

Holy hell, so delusional. You hold such a belief that your delusions are somehow a result of prokofievs emotions being magically expressef in the music 😂😂😂

[@LucasPianoSalon]

16:31 Most beautiful piece ever composed

[@fredericchopin4221]

@Constantinos Aspris Real prokofiev fans skip the first movement

[@pavlenikacevic4976]

@@fredericchopin4221 lol what

[@fredericchopin4221]

@@pavlenikacevic4976 also the third movement, possibly the second as well

[@tiosav6251]

c'mon man, 6th sonata is the best

[@Valheurbia]

Mov2 is definitely dreamy.

[@calebhu6383]

18:50

[@lastman7409]

9:34 sounds like bells. are they meant to represent train bells?

[@MattWeisherComposer]

So was this his sketch for his Piano Concerto 4? They’re so similar! Not exact, of course, but you can hear it!

[@matthewbrown3420]

This came afterwards

[@ywxuwei9149]

艺术品❤

[@on-the-spot9467]

Sonta of unfaithfulness.

[@craigrenoe4065]

Really nice job copying and pasting the description from olla-vogala's video

[@alexmolt]

Hello. I would like you to rate another recording of this sonata that I posted on my channel (last video), if it possible ofc)))

[@FKemp-uo9no]

Well olla-vogala got it from allmusic.com so it's hardly his valued intellectual property

[@tiosav6251]

snitch