For Zig-Zag Territoires, Yury Martynov has undertaken the complete Beethoven symphonies in Liszt’s transcriptions on historic instruments. The third volume of that cycle came out in January 2014 and, like the previous instalments, has enjoyed great critical success.

This new release bears witness to another aspect of Yury Martynov’s talent and art, this time grappling with a composer from the avant-garde of the first half of the 20th century, and on a resolutely modern Steinway.

On the programme are works from the pre-war years (Sonata No.5, Pensées), as well as a ‘war’ work (Sonata No.6) and the marvellous 12 pieces that make up the Music for Children, with which apprentice pianists are well familiar. This is therefore a recording that explores two aspects of Prokofiev’s work: rich, powerful writing contrasting with melodic, poetic writing.