Ilya Yakushev, the pianist on this album, was named one of the 'Top 10 Classical Music Events of 2007' by the San Francisco Chronicle for his three-concert series at the San Francisco Symphony's Prokofiev Festival.
Performer Biography
Ilya Yakushev has won first prizes at the World Piano Competition in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Donostia Hiria International Piano Competition in San Sebastian, Spain.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Despite his 'enfant terrible' image, Prokofiev genuinely admired the late-Romantic piano style of his contemporary, Sergey Rachmaninov, and valued melodiousness in music.
Performer Biography
Ilya Yakushev has performed as a concerto soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Boston Pops, the BBC Concert Orchestra, and the Mariinsky Orchestra.
Composition History
Prokofiev's First Piano Sonata, Op. 1, was a reworked version of the first movement of his Second Sonata, composed around 1906-07.
Composition History
Prokofiev's Ninth Sonata was the first piano work he composed after World War II and the last he completed before his death in 1953.
Composer Biography
Sergei Prokofiev, the composer of these sonatas, wrote his first piece for piano at age five and completed his first opera, 'The Giant', by age eight.
