Great Vinnitskaya review in International Piano Magazine!

Anna Vinnitskaya

Rachmaninoff Piano Sonata no.2. in B flat minor op.36
Gubaidulina Chaconne
Medtner Sonata 'Reminiscenza' in A minor op.38 no.1
Prokofiev Piano Sonata no.7 in B flat major op.38

Naïve Ambroisie

Winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2007 (only the second woman to win first prize in the history of the competition, after Ekaterina Novitskaya in 1968), Anna Vinnitskaya has drawn together a satisfying programme for her debut CD, spanning 50 years of Russian music, from Rachmaninoff to Gubaidulina. Aged 26, her youth ought to preclude both her bold confidence in Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Sonata (revised version) and her ability to open up its first movement in myriad shades of darkness. A peacefully seductive slow movement leads to a finale that seems a touch too controlled, lacking the abandon of Freddy Kempf (BIS). Steely and thunderous in Gubaidulina's striking Chaconne, Vinnitskaya contrasts the work's architectural rigour with finely conceived sonorous effects. The wistful charm of Medtner's Sonata offers a calm oasis before Prokofiev's Sonata no.7. There is nothing here to tax Vinnitskaya's solid technique, nor does she err from the mature, unaffected musical instinct of her Rachmaninoff. Add rich and immediate yet spacious sound quality, and this becomes a disc that is self-recommending.

Edward Bhesania