Shostakovich Piano [Sonata] Sonatas – No. 1, Op. 12; No. 2 in B minor, Op. 61. Five [Prelude] Preludes. 24 [Prelude] Preludes, Op. 34. Colin Stone (pf).

Olympia (Mid  price) (CD) OCD574 (79 minutes: DDD).

Shostakovich’s Five Preludes from student days are not otherwise currently available, and Colin Stone is to be congratulated for including these gauche but attractive pieces rather than the ubiquitous Fantastic Dances. Indeed his playing is well prepared throughout and the recording quality is as clean as his playing; the piano itself sounds pretty well ideally regulated.

What you won’t find is the wildness of the First Sonata, where Stone has gone for clarity rather than the impossibly frenetic metronome marks; Lilya Zilberstein on DG also compromises, but she retains a more idiomatic sense of the sheer danger of the music. Nor do the Op. 34 Preludes rival Mustonen for point and characterization; some listeners may actually prefer the steadier approach to the impulsive Finn’s shock tactics. And Boris Berman unfolds more depth of meaning in the wartime Second Sonata (why has the classic Gilels account – RCA, 4/73 – never made it on to CD?).

Colin Stone offers an admirably sane view, then, and the expense of buying anything better is considerable. There is certainly a lot more to this music than sanity, but this survey can still be confidently recommended to anyone looking for a single-disc supplement to the Preludes and Fugues.

DJF