SOMM RECORDINGS announces the first volume of Prokofiev Milestones, featuring three characterful sonatas and a sparkling arrangement of music from Romeo and Juliet performed by violinists Lana Trotovsek and Boris Bizjak (who also doubles on flute) accompanied by Maria Canyigueral on piano. Prokofiev Milestones revealingly turns the focus away from the prolific composer's famed orchestral works and celebrated ballets to his rich and varied chamber music. First performed in 1943, the Sonata for Flute and Piano (Op.94) is, as Robert Matthew-Walker comments in his notes, "music not of war, but of peace"; a pastoral escape laced with wit and mischief vouchsafed within a pristine neo-classical frame. It is heard again, transformed, in Prokofiev's own transcription for Violin and Piano (Op.94a). Composed soon after, it lays claim to being "one of the finest 20th-century works in the genre and a genuine masterpiece". The Sonata for Two Violins (Op.56) is heard in a new arrangement by Boris Bizjak that eloquently makes much of it's sentimentality, drama and vitality.A characterful suite drawn from Romeo and Juliet, and arranged for violin and piano by Lidia Baich and Matthias Fletzberger, revels in Shakespeare's great romance and Prokofiev's ardent response to it. Maria Canyigueral is making her SOMM Recordings debut. Lana Trotovsek and Boris Bizjak's previous SOMM release was Hoffmeister's Magic Flute (SOMMCD 0620) with the Piatti Quartet, of which Gramophone approvingly noted: "the challenge falls firmly on the performers... Bizjak, Trotovsek and their accomplices... meet the music's technical demands admirably".

Tracklist:

Sonata for Flute and Piano in D major, Op. 94~I. Moderato
Sonata for Flute and Piano in D major, Op. 94~II. Scherzo: Presto
Sonata for Flute and Piano in D major, Op. 94~III. Andante
Sonata for Flute and Piano in D major, Op. 94~IV. Allegro con brio
Sonata for Two Violins in C major, Op. 56~I. Andante cantabile
Sonata for Two Violins in C major, Op. 56~II. Allegro
Sonata for Two Violins in C major, Op. 56~III. Commodo (quasi allegretto)
Sonata for Two Violins in C major, Op. 56~IV. Allegro con brio
Suite from Romeo and Juliet~I. Intoduction
Suite from Romeo and Juliet~II. Juliet
Suite from Romeo and Juliet~III. Dance of the Knights
Suite from Romeo and Juliet~IV. Balcony Scene
Suite from Romeo and Juliet~V. Dance of the Couples
Suite from Romeo and Juliet~VI. Mercutio-Fight-Tybalt's Death
Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano in D major, Op. 94a~I. Moderato
Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano in D major, Op. 94a~II. Scherzo: Presto
Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano in D major, Op. 94a~III. Andante
Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano in D major, Op. 94a~IV. Allegor con brio

UPC: 748871067127
Label: Somm Recordings
Release Date: 1.19.24
Format: CD

Prokofiev / Canyigueral / Bizjak - Prokofiev Milestones Vol. 1 (CD)