Prokofiev's powerful fourth sonata dates from the same year, 1917, as the third sonata, but is a dramatic three-movement narrative in contrast to the latter's single movement. The last of the composer's sonatas written before leaving Russia, it is similar to the third sonata from his student sketches. The sonata integrates Russian fairy-tale elements, neo-Baroque gestures and neo-classical wit, partly echoing the 'Classical Symphony' also of 1917, and at the same time drawing on the mysterious style of Medtner's 'Fairy-tale sonata'. The result is a grippingly expressive narrative culminating in one of Prokofiev's most dazzling finales.
The concert is introduced by the beautifully romantic 'Twelve Sketches' of Prokofiev's teacher, Reinhold Glière, who outlived his famous pupil and had a distinguished career as a Professor of Composition at the Moscow Conservatoire.
Two arresting and intricate late works by Gabriel Fauré set Prokofiev's fourth sonata in a contemporary context.
more about David Christophersen
Oslo-born David Christophersen, Artistic Director of the Cambridge Concert Artists series at West Road Concert Hall, has performed throughout the UK, including the Woburn Abbey Festival, Bristol's St. George's, Edinburgh's Reid Hall, Oxford's Holywell Music Room, London's St John's Smith Square and broadcast for BBC Radio 3. Recent projects have included premiering new solo and chamber music by Jeremy Thurlow, Maria Ptaszynska and Robin Holloway; performances with Marie-Noelle Kendall of Robin Holloway's monumental two-piano classic 'Gilded Goldbergs' and a tour with Prokofiev's War Sonatas, described by the Scotsman as 'exactly right'.