Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich

Ha, my theory as to why Prokofiev's solo piano works is "oddly neglected" comes right back to "Diabolical Suggestion". Every teen pianist rushes to play it because it's such a ridiculous thing but Sergei wrote it when he was 17? It's like a piece of juvenilia upstaging all the later, better work

I adore Visions Fugitifs myself

With Prokofiev’s piano music I think there was always the difficulty aspect of it. Supposedly until the last couple decades there were only a handful of pianists who had the chops to play his Third Concerto.

xp yeah, it sounds like a piece a teen would write, for better and worse

Playing Prokofiev on piano is basically an act of unlearning everything you learned

not sure why i couldn't get into prokofiev on my last pass. the 2nd and 3rd piano concertos sound tremendous now

It's been too long since I enjoyed the quiet sections of that third piano concerto

(Meaning listened to them, of course, not that I haven't enjoyed them every time I do listen to them)

Re:Stravinsky, in the past couple years the Violin Concerto seems to be having a moment. It seems every prominent violin soloist is performing and recording it. It’s become almost as ubiquitous as Brahms’. Recordings in the last year alone include Isabelle Faust, Frank Peter Zimmermann, James Ehnes, and Vilde Frang.

I saw Hillary Hahn do that one back when I was in college. My friend and I tried to get her to hang out with us afterwards, lol.

FTR, I am the same age as her.

not sure why i couldn't get into prokofiev on my last pass. the 2nd and 3rd piano concertos sound tremendous now

yeah -- his stuff seemed kinda clinical to me when I was younger, about two years ago I listened to one of the sonatas that Kissin did on a live set, idk which because I have one of those "here's 40 CDs you'll like" things of him from RCA, and it knocked me over and I got really into his piano sonatas and kinda lost my mind, getting multiple complete sets -- they're really a wonder, you can tell he's listened to Gershwin and Ellington and is interested in the wider world of music, they're just amazing pieces.

but if you get to see Shostakovich quartets live, boy those can be transporting experiences