LDV60

WILHEM LATCHOUMIA 29 Just how complex is that? If the element of simplicity makes it possible to emphasise the sarcastic and ironic dimension of certain passages, the complexity considerably enriches the discourse. Here I’ll refer again to the Amoroso from op.102. I’ve noticed that in this movement the orchestral scoring is more sober than the piano writing! On the keyboard, Prokofiev adds formulas I can only describe as ‘tortured’. They deliberately give a thicker texture to the lyricism and the melodic line. So it’s really a fake simplicity, and this composer who was a melodic genius presents us here with themes that are absolutely unsingable! Using the art of transcription so highly prized in the nineteenth century, notably by Franz Liszt, Prokofiev made several piano arrangements of his own works. Subsequently, a number of performers of his music have made their own transcriptions of his scores. But, fine as their efforts may be, they generally don’t sound like Prokofiev. In fact, they often appear too pianistic, while the composer’s art remains unpredictable, with a tendency to forget about the keyboard itself.