I am disappointed in myself for missing Prokofiev’s birthday yesterday. Though I was also feeling sick all day, so I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to write a thought out post for him. Wrongs are being righted: here is his third piano concerto, one of his great masterpieces that is also considered to be one of the top piano concertos of the last century. It opens with a sense of nostalgia in the orchestra, until the energy picks up and the piano rolls in with child-like hyperactive runs. We quickly shift into a more “grotesque” and violent episode before the next main melody, paired with the interesting choice of castanets, dances through. This movement is an interesting display of orchestral color and texture, using the piano more as a percussive element to the orchestra, more integrated than the tradition of concertos-as-showmanship-pieces from the prior generations. The second movement is a set of variations on a simple theme, and like all good variations we are given a series of contrasting moods and levels of energy. The finally sneaks in with a bit of a sarcastic haughtiness, before becoming a rowdy exercise in dexterity and endurance, balancing the main melody with a slower, more lyrical countermelody. The finale surges in an uplifting roar of the major key. This concerto is one of my favorites. I’d first heard it in high school and was taken in by the “heavy metal” energy in the first movement. Though it isn’t ever one note, one mood, I can’t help but associate it with summer afternoons walking around a city neighborhood. Different sights, sounds, colors. Of all the performances, I decided to share this iconic recording of Martha Argerich at the piano, her hands blurring through the dense passages as if there was no effort involved.
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