Sergei Prokofiev was himself a fine pianist and his nine piano sonatas span his entire composing career. Richly varied in scale, style and expression, they have only rarely been recorded complete. In 1988, when Vladimir Ovchinnikov, top prizewinner of both the Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition and the Leeds International Piano Competition, played the 2nd and 7th sonatas at his US debut, the New York Times praised his ability to "keep the rhythms sharp while creating textures with an acerbic edge and great tensile strength," and wrote that "even in the densest, loudest passages, his playing has an uncanny sense of transparency."
