Scriabin

In celebration of the Scriabin Centenary in 2015 this new recording presents the complete piano Etudes by the Russian Mystic. The three sets of Études clearly mark the development of Scriabin’s musical language: the Opus 8 is strongly influenced by Chopin and Scriabin’s friend and contemporary Rachmaninoff, the Opus 42 already show signs of his new and completely individual harmonic experiments, while Opus 65 are a blaze with his ideas about the mystical power of music, the forces of darkness and light. No better Scriabin advocate than Dmitri Alexeev, a pianist of unique technical and emotional powers, creeping under the skin of this fascinating music. Alexeev already recorded a highly acclaimed set of the complete Piano Sonatas by Scriabin, on BC 94388.

The highly acclaimed but notoriously under-recorded Russian pianist Grigory Sokolov remains something of a cult & mystery figure in the world of classical music. Preferring the concert stage and avoiding the recording studio like it was the plague (the anti-Glenn Gould, as it were), Sokolov's growing legion of fans are largely left with the hopes of purchasing recital tickets whenever he comes to town. Of the recordings presently available for purchase, virtually all of them are taken from "live" concert performances. As one can gather from the many online uploads of Sokolov in action, this circumstance comes with the usual trade-off: of listening to scintillating, inspired performances that are somewhat less than ideal in sound quality, in part owing to audience intrusiveness.

Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915) and Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757) prove to be engaging and complementary characters in the hands of German pianist Julius Asal, whose debut Deutsche Grammophon album is set for release in all formats on 3 May 2024. Scriabin – Scarlatti is built from works by two composers rarely mentioned in the same breath, the one a Russian absorbed by mysticism and its expression in the arts, the other a Neapolitan noted for the panache of his 555 keyboard sonatas. The album creates a dreamlike meditation in which the boundaries between pieces, eras and states of mind fade away. “Everything’s possible in a dream”, says the 27-year-old artist, who has a rare talent for innovative programme curation. “Even seemingly different materials from different times and with different densities can merge and create a new substance that’s never existed before. That’s how I felt while I was recording the music of Scriabin and Scarlatti.”

Since his 2007 Cleveland International Piano Competition victory, Alexander Ghindin has attracted attention for the powerful technique, wide dynamic range, and ardent temperament he brings to Russian repertoire, as this Scriabin recital amply bears out. The various Poèmes are massively textured, generously pedaled, and generally quite spacious in relation to, say, Pascal Amoyel's chaster, more classically proportioned interpretations.

Sampling the three periods of Alexander Scriabin's music, Vadym Kholodenko presents a coherent and colorful program that includes a representative handful of the early preludes, two of the middle piano sonatas, a set of etudes, and three of the poems for keyboard. While Scriabin's music steadily evolved from his youthful Chopinesque phase and a transitional, impressionistic period, similar in evocative harmonies and effects to Debussy, to a nearly atonal and atmospheric style all his own, there was always a virtuosic complexity in his piano pieces that makes it challenging for performers and listeners alike.

Reference Recordings proudly presents a unique album of one movement symphonies composed by Barber, Sibelius and Scriabin, in an outstanding interpretation from Michael Stern and the Kansas City Symphony. This album, the ninth in our series with the orchestra, was produced by David Frost, seven-time winner of the Classical Producer of the Year GRAMMY® award. It was recorded by RR’s own engineering team of GRAMMY®-winning engineer and Technical Director Keith O. Johnson, and multi-GRAMMY® nominated engineer Sean Martin. Music Director Michael Stern is in his second decade with the Kansas City Symphony, hailed for its remarkable artistic ascent, original programming, organizational development and stability, as well as the extraordinary growth of its varied audiences since his tenure began. The Kansas City Symphony has a vision to transform hearts, minds and its community through the power of symphonic music.