Decca’s Prokofiev compilation offers all of the composer’s concerted works in one three-disc package. The main attraction, the 1975 Ashkenazy/Previn Piano Concerto cycle, offers Ashkenazy’s captivating finger work (scintillating in No. 1, dramatic and commanding in No. 2, mercurial in No. 3, and rhythmically powerful in No. 5) combined with Previn’s wholehearted identification with Prokofiev’s unique sound world (brilliantly reproduced by the London Symphony), making this set a first choice among recorded versions, whatever the vintage. Decca’s warm, naturally balanced analogue recordings enhance the listening experience. By contrast, the digital sound for Violin Concertos 1 & 2 is notable for its lack of warmth, and Joshua Bell’s detached renderings do little to raise the temperature as he clearly has not lived in this music long enough to play it from the heart, no matter how handsomely he’s mastered its technical challenges. Similarly, Charles Dutoit provides rather bland accompaniments with the Montreal Symphony.
Prokofiev’s two Cello concertos feature Lynn Harrell joined by Ashkenazy, who as conductor proves suitably adept. Harrell is his usual highly emotive self, which helps to humanize the sprawling, discursive Sinfonia Concertante, while he brings a welcome playfulness to the lighthearted and sometimes balletic Concertino. Decca’s sound this time has more body than the Montreal recordings, but it still doesn’t match the richness of the 1970’s analogue productions.
