Sonatas 2 & 6 CD

 Mea Culpa........Read On
I had submitted a previous review of this recording, and gave it 2 stars. I have taken the time to re-listen this CD several times recently, and have to admit to a previous tin ear! The piano sound is well recorded, and Ms. Damien really plays with verve, sharpness and bravado. Why didn't I like it before? Fatigue? I'm picky about Prokofiev piano, and cannot abide a limp-wristed account...this decidedly is not! The two sonatas are very well played, especially Sonata No.2. The Sarcasms are played with a different stress and emphasis than I like, but I have to say they are very listenable. This is now being given 5 stars to average out to 3 1/2 stars, which is where the recording more likely belongs. If this is your introduction to Prokofiev piano music, you will not go wrong. Apologies to Ms. Damien for my previous negativism.
Submitted by Poppynogood (Iowa City, IA) 
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 Prokofiev: Okay..........But!!??!!
Marie-Noelle Damien couldn't have picked a bigger headache for her first recording than Prokofiev's piano music. This has always seemed to me to be big and muscular music with sharp edges, tough rhythms and a musical line not very easy to pick out. Damien does play well, but only well. There is a great deal of competition out there in this music, and she simply doesn't qualify. Add to that a really dopey cover art (with the cover art reproduced on a seperate interior card; just in case you fell in love with it I would suppose), and a translation on the biography of Damien apparently done by computer and you have a non-starter in this CD. Sample: "She had a perfect hearing and disposed about a remarkable innate velocity." HUH??????? Save your money and put it into Barbara Nissman's wonderful recordings of nearly the entire ouvre of piano music (Pierian Label, available via CDUniverse).
Submitted by Poppynogood (Iowa City, Iowa) 
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