I was immediately taken with these performances, so I wasn"t surprised when Kasman won a major prize at the Van Cliburn Competition a few years later. This is big piano playing, with great power, brilliant contrasts, outstanding fluency, and an always-convincing conception of the music. These are among the best performances of Prokofiev"s Piano Sonatas I have heard. Kasman was only 26 when he recorded them. The disc has another, unusual distinction: it is by far the longest CD I have ever encountered, running 82:04 (but it has played perfectly on every CD player I"ve used). --Leslie Gerber