Scriabins Temple

[relm1]

Part II: only 6 minutes long.


https://www.youtube.com/v/A3vyL4QZ6-k

I really like it.  So we only have 18 minutes?

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Which wasn't my question.

You might well separate authenticity. But when people use a composer's name it is with the deliberate intention of selling the piece as coming from that composer. So it's a fair question to ask just how authentic that use of a name is, by asking what state the material from well-known composer no.1 was actually in before less well-known composer no.2 came along.

Yes, that's certainly a relevant and interesting question.
As for the opera, it sounds less Scriabinesque to me. But it is opera.
Musicologists, or even a computer program, would make a better assessment than mine.

[Cato]

As for the opera, it sounds less Scriabinesque to me. But it is opera.

The sketches are from the 1890's, a time when Scriabin's style was rather different from the era beginning with the Fifth Piano Sonata.

[relm1]

Scriabin had one of the most fascinating trajectories of any composer I can think of.  1 or 2 years separates massive stylistic changes.  All are very interesting and good but quite different.  That is part of why he is such an interesting composer because where he eventually gets to is quite individual and frankly brilliant even if how he got there is somewhat nonsensical.  One thing he has in common with his classmate and contemporary, Rachmaninoff, is I've not heard a single piece of theirs even if it's juvenilia that I didn't like though they took different paths.  I wish he had lived longer and created more but I say the same about Rachmaninoff. 

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

The sketches are from the 1890's, a time when Scriabin's style was rather different from the era beginning with the Fifth Piano Sonata.

That's very true.

[relm1]

Any suggestions on how to approach the Sonatas or recommended path through them?

[bhodges]

Any suggestions on how to approach the Sonatas or recommended path through them?

FWIW, I first heard No. 5, by Horowitz (recorded by many people), and then worked forward through the later ones from other artists, before turning to Nos. 1-4. I haven't heard some of the more recent recordings by pianists I admire like Yuja Wang and Daniil Trifonov.

If you're looking for a complete set, the older one by Roberto Szidon (on DG) is quite good, as is the more recent set by Hamelin.

--Bruce

[relm1]

FWIW, I first heard No. 5, by Horowitz (recorded by many people), and then worked forward through the later ones from other artists, before turning to Nos. 1-4. I haven't heard some of the more recent recordings by pianists I admire like Yuja Wang and Daniil Trifonov.

If you're looking for a complete set, the older one by Roberto Szidon (on DG) is quite good, as is the more recent set by Hamelin.

--Bruce

Should I think of them as tone poems for piano?

[bhodges]

Should I think of them as tone poems for piano?

That's a lovely description, one I might not have thought of. Sure, why not?

--Bruce

[bhodges]

PS, stumbled across No. 10 by Yuja Wang, live at the Berlin Philharmonie in 2018, and she has both tenderness and fire.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VYX05DopGs

--Bruce

[Madiel]

Should I think of them as tone poems for piano?

They are sonatas, and as far as I recall they are all in sonata form.

[Wanderer]

FWIW, I first heard No. 5, by Horowitz (recorded by many people), and then worked forward through the later ones from other artists, before turning to Nos. 1-4. I haven't heard some of the more recent recordings by pianists I admire like Yuja Wang and Daniil Trifonov.

If you're looking for a complete set, the older one by Roberto Szidon (on DG) is quite good, as is the more recent set by Hamelin.

--Bruce

I second the recommendation for the Hamelin set.

[Biffo]

Any suggestions on how to approach the Sonatas or recommended path through them?

I have the Ashkenazy set (and a few others scattered through recitals). Rather boringly I started at No 1 and went through them sequentially.

[Wanderer]

...I started at No 1 and went through them sequentially.

I think that's the best way to go.

[bhodges]

Today found a live 2015 performance (just posted last August) of Scriabin's Symphony No. 1 with Riccardo Muti, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, mezzo-soprano Alisa Kolosova, tenor Sergey Skorokhodov, and the CSO Chorus. (Note: audio only.)

Muti has championed this work for years. He takes the symphony totally seriously, even though it's early, written when the composer was 28, and not nearly as harmonically daring as his later efforts. The assembled forces are magnificent, and those who admire Muti's Philadelphia recordings will likely enjoy this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHzX0AcwRds

--Bruce

[relm1]

Today found a live 2015 performance (just posted last August) of Scriabin's Symphony No. 1 with Riccardo Muti, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, mezzo-soprano Alisa Kolosova, tenor Sergey Skorokhodov, and the CSO Chorus. (Note: audio only.)

Muti has championed this work for years. He takes the symphony totally seriously, even though it's early, written when the composer was 28, and not nearly as harmonically daring as his later efforts. The assembled forces are magnificent, and those who admire Muti's Philadelphia recordings will likely enjoy this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHzX0AcwRds

--Bruce

That was fantastic!  I'm becoming obsessed with Scriabin.

[bhodges]

That was fantastic!  I'm becoming obsessed with Scriabin.

Glad you enjoyed it! And Scriabin is an excellent subject to obsess over.

--Bruce

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

That was fantastic!  I'm becoming obsessed with Scriabin.

+1. Excellent presentation.

[SonicMan46]

Any suggestions on how to approach the Sonatas or recommended path through them?

Hi Relm1 - if you just want the Sonatas performed by an exceptional pianist, then Marc-André Hamelin is certainly an outstanding recording and is in my collection; now, if you desire a more 'complete' collection of the piano works, then consider Maria Lettberg, also owned by me - I've attached some reviews that may be of interest.  Dave

 

[relm1]

Hi Relm1 - if you just want the Sonatas performed by an exceptional pianist, then Marc-André Hamelin is certainly an outstanding recording and is in my collection; now, if you desire a more 'complete' collection of the piano works, then consider Maria Lettberg, also owned by me - I've attached some reviews that may be of interest.  Dave

 

Thanks, I really appreciate it!  I plan to do a deep dive into this material later this summer so timing is perfect!