Vladimir Ashkenazy - Scriabin: The Piano Sonatas

Release Date: 8/26/1997
Label: Decca
Catalog Number: 452961

Tracks

Disc 1
1–4 Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 6 - Alexander Scriabin & Vladimir Ashkenazy (21:00)
5–6 Piano Sonata No. 2 in G sharp minor ("Sonata-Fantasy"), Op. 19 - Alexander Scriabin & Vladimir Ashkenazy (12:21)
7–10 Piano Sonata No. 3 in F sharp minor ("Etats d'âme"), Op. 23 - Alexander Scriabin & Vladimir Ashkenazy (19:45)
11–12 Piano Sonata No. 4 in F sharp major, Op. 30 - Alexander Scriabin & Vladimir Ashkenazy (8:18)
12 Pieces (4) for piano, Op. 56 - Alexander Scriabin & Vladimir Ashkenazy (5:07)
13 Dances (2) for piano, Op. 73 - Alexander Scriabin & Vladimir Ashkenazy (5:16)
14 Poèmes (2) for piano, Op. 32 - Alexander Scriabin & Vladimir Ashkenazy (4:50)

Disc 2
1 Piano Sonata No. 5 in F sharp major, Op. 53 - Alexander Scriabin & Vladimir Ashkenazy (12:03)
2 Piano Sonata No. 6, Op. 62 - Alexander Scriabin & Vladimir Ashkenazy (11:38)
3 Piano Sonata No. 7 ("White Mass"), Op. 64 - Alexander Scriabin & Vladimir Ashkenazy (10:56)
4 Piano Sonata No. 8, Op. 66 - Alexander Scriabin & Vladimir Ashkenazy (13:26)
5 Piano Sonata No. 9 ("Black Mass"), Op. 68 - Alexander Scriabin & Vladimir Ashkenazy (8:10)
6 Piano Sonata No. 10 ("Trill"), Op. 70 - Alexander Scriabin & Vladimir Ashkenazy (12:20)
7 Pieces (4) for piano, Op. 51 - Alexander Scriabin & Vladimir Ashkenazy (6:55)

Alexander Scriabin's piano sonatas chart his career from Romantic piano
virtuoso to mystical voyant more clearly than any of his other works. Yet
hearing them in order also reveals that their increasing complexities and
stylistic advances developed on a continuum, and that they are actually quite
unified, despite their dramatic changes of forms, harmonies, rhythms, and
tonality. Some pianists perceive a split between "Sonata No. 4" and "No. 5," as
if that is where the seeds of Scriabin's messianic madness first took root; as
a result, the cycle is frequently divided between vaguely Chopin-esque, parlor
interpretations for the earlier works and crazy, excessive readings for the
remaining pieces. However, Vladimir Ashkenazy deserves credit for comprehending
the progression of the sonatas and for taking a consistent interpretive stance
from first to last. He is remarkably thoughtful and coherent, and from the
outset presents Scriabin's work as a search for greater musical freedoms, not
as a gradual slide into madness. Ashkenazy may be faulted for rushing, and for
more than a little explosiveness, but he must be accorded honors for producing
one of the truly great Scriabin sets, both passionate and reasoned. The mix of
ADD and DDD recordings may disappoint some, but the excellence of the music
makes the slightly variable sound quality a minor issue. This 1997 London
twofer reissue has bonus tracks of Scriabin's Opp. 32, 51, 56, and 73, which
give it extra value.