SERGEY PROKOFIEV

Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 2 & 4 ‘Left hand’

Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Flat Major, op. 10

1. l Allegro brioso

2. II Andante assai

3. III Allegro scherzando

Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, op. 16

4. I Andantino

5. II Scherzo (Vivace)

6. III Intermezzo (Allegro moderato)

7. IV Finale (Allegro Tempestoso)

Piano Concerto No. 4 in B Flat Major, op. 53 (for the left hand)

8. l Vivace

9. II Andante

10. III Moderato – Allegro moderato

11. IV Vivace

Alexander Gavrylyuk, piano

Sydney Symphony Orchestra / Vladimir Ashkenazy

This SACD is a live recording from 2009 of part of a large ‘Composer Festival’ featuring the music of Sergei Prokofiev. The award-winning Ukrainian soloist Alexander Gavrylyuk performs the First, Second, and Fourth (for the left hand), the first of two discs of the composer’s five piano concertos with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under its principal conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Alexander Gavrylyuk was born in 1984 in the Ukraine and began his piano studies at the age of seven. He gave his first concerto performance when he was nine years old. In 1996 he was a prize winner in Senigalia, Italy and in 1997 was a 2nd prize winner at the Second Horowitz International Piano Competition in Kiev. The next big step for Alexander was going back to compete at the Third Horowitz International Piano Competition and winning the coveted First prize and Gold medal in 1999. Alexander lived in Sydney, Australia from 1998-2006, and returned in 2009 to perform with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy at the Prokofiev festival that year.

The Russian conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy is internationally renowned for his interpretation of the piano and orchestral music of the composers of his native country, Sadly, due to arthritis in his fingers he has been able to play the piano less and less in recent years, and during this period he has taken the opportunity to focus his attention on his role as a conductor. He became principal conductor with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the time of these performances.

Triton SACD EXCL00044