Customer Reviews

Scriabin: The Piano Sonatas

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I have the following complete sets: Laredo, Taub, Ashkenazy, Hamelin, Mikhailov, Szidon, Ponti, and Ogdon. I have two discs of Glemser and Horowitz, and one disc of: Sofronitsky, Pletnev, Kocyan, Bogdonov, Florentino, Coombs, Trpceski, and Richter.

Here is my list of suggested performances of the sonatas, taken from those I've heard. They are ranked from left to right:

G#m posthumous: Hamelin. Solid and very clean, but a bit dry.

Ebm posthumous: Glemser. The performance is solid, but doesn't seem ideal.

No. 1: Kocyan, then Ashkenazy, then Taub. Kocyan tells a story. Ashkenazy is passionate. Taub is darker.

No. 2: Kocyan, then Glemser or Sofronitsky, then Ashkenazy. Kocyan's fluidity takes it, but Sofronitsky is artistic. Glemser's first movement is beautiful.

No. 3: Laredo or Horowitz. Then Glemser or Taub. Then Ashkenazy or Sofronitsky.

No. 4: Taub or Sofronitsky. The latter has more artistry, the former a more coherent and appropriate tone.

No. 5: Horowitz or Taub. The former has electric genius, the latter has wonderful refinement. Hamelin's is excellent (his best Scriabin performance). I've heard that Richter's is great, but I don't have it.

No. 6: Richter (genius but bad sound quality), then Taub. Hamelin's is athletic and precise, although not mysterious.

No. 7: Glemser, then Laredo. The former brings out all the complexity with precision, the latter is sharp and clear. I have not heard Richter's.

No. 8: Ashkenazy. Then Szidon or Laredo. I've read that Sofronitsky's is good, but I don't have it.

No. 9: Sofronitsky, then Horowitz (all versions), then Glemser, then Szidon and Taub.

No. 10: Horowitz or Taub. Same contrast of styles between the pianists as the fifth sonata. Like the fifth, this is Taub's other brilliant performance.

Other pieces:

Fantasy in B minor: Glemser
Vers la flamme: Sofronitsky or Horowitz, then Laredo.
Piano concerto: Ugorski/Boulez, then Ashkenazy/Maazel. Both are excellent, but I give the edge to Ugorski.
Poem of Ecstasy: Maazel
Prometheus: Ashkenazy/Maazel

This set is solid in general and has the best performance of the eighth sonata (and nearly the best performance of the first) though the 7th and 10th sonatas are particularly problematic. I think the edge goes to Taub for a complete set, although one would do well to supplement it with other recordings. Avoid Ogdon and Ponti. Mikhailov plays well, but none of his sonatas rise toward the top.

I have to totally disagree with the reviewer who said Ashkenazy's performance of the 2nd Prokofiev concerto is bad. To me, the first movement is one of the very best performances I've heard.

A very interesting CD containing all the 10 piano sonatas written by Scriabin, starting from the agitated No 1, influenced by Liszt and Chopin, but already unmistakably bearing signs of Scriabin's early style and finishing by No 10 which is a vivid example of Scriabin's mature late style.
As for me I'm more interested in his earlier works, and I'm quite satisfied with the Sonatas No 1 - 3 (the first is the leader), but of course for full understanding of the whole creative activity of this outstanding Russian composer you should get acquainted with all the set proposed here.
Besides the Sonatas there are some minor works (mostly from the late period), including the enigmatic "Deux Dances" op. 73 - one of the very last works of Scriabin.
Once you say that the set is performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy you need not add anything more. It's great as usual. :-)
My personal advice for those who loved the set presented here - listen to Scriabin's Fantaisie op.28 (written between the 3-d and the 4-th sonatas). It's a one part work very close to Sonata No.1 and it will give you a full picture of Scriabin's sonatas. I listened it performed by Lazar Berman and I'm sure you won't be dissapointed by him.

This is an excellent and inexpensive set of the sonatas of Scriabin, it could be a good introduction to the sonatas. Ashkenazy's playing at times can get a little "harsh", same could be set with other recordings of his. But that is really my only major complaint about this CD. Other than that, the playing is excellent. The sonatas no. 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8 are especially wonderful. This set is by no means "definitive", but worth having.

Other than this set no Scriabin fan should miss Horowitz's recordings of the sonatas 3, 5, 9, 10, various etudes, preludes, and Vers la flamme. Ruth Laredo's set of Scriabin is also excellent. If you find a recording of the out of print Szidon CD of the Scriabin sonatas, GET IT!!
Overall an excellent set that is highly recommended.

As a young pianist, I used to admire Ashkenazy's literarily faithful playing. Well, I still do, in that sense that he is ever a smooth operator, albeit with the implied reservations: he tends to round off the edges too much--particularly in Rachmaninov. Even if his Scriabin Sonatas occasionally testify to this tendency, fortunately, they rather bring out his best sides--which are all the more needed in such extremely demanding repertoire.

It has always eluded me why the rightly famed 'Decca' sound generally has failed to produce a successful piano sound; it tends to be tinny, glossy and often harsh above forte. These problems are very much evident in this recording, making up its greatest flaw (sample the very beginning of the 7th Sonata, which is indeed quite appalling). In fact, there are no less-than-satisfactory performances, notwithstanding a mechanical 7th and uninspired 10th Sonata.

The greatest performance comes at the very beginning: Ashkenazy finds an impressive amount of energy and passion in the first and third movements of the 1st Sonata, whereas the second and fourth movements are fittingly searching and tragic, respectively. Moreover, the first movements of the 2nd and 3rd Sonatas are both done with poised beauty. The 6th is almost as good as Hamelin's, not bogged down in any exaggerated spookiness. The 9th triggers a surprisingly high level of menacing excitement.

Lastly, it is interesting to note that Ashkenazy's reading of the 8th Sonata often has been put forward as the reference version. I guess his utterly smooth playing matches with the notion that it is a lounge piece with fairly limited musical substance. However, I strongly disagree and find it the most underrated sonata of the pack, to a large extent due to the fact that it is the most difficult to carry off--loaded with floods of exotic double arabesques. Only Hamelin and Austbų fully realise its neglected potential.

REFERENCES: 1st & miscellaneous--Lettberg; 2nd, 5th, 9th--Sudbin; 3rd--Kissin; 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th--Hamelin; 7th--Glemser

Scriabin is one of those composers who you love or hate. The eagerness with which he takes simple ideas, the interval of a fourth for example, and uses them to write not only entire pieces, but entire groups of pieces, is reminiscient of Beethoven and Brahms - but his harmonic concepts grow out of late works by Liszt, such as the Mephisto Waltzes, and from Wagner's masterful brand of chromaticism and contrapuntal expertise. (The "Tristan Chord" appears a lot in Scriabin.) His professed love of Chopin inspired him to write in Chopinesque forms, though his obsession with certain harmonies prevented his music from having the same level of freedom and creativity.

Ashkenazy's readings of this music suffer a little bit from the usual tinny Decca sound. He has a nice, full tone, and he is capable of polishing each note to an almost disturbing degree, but Decca has simply never been very good at recording the piano. His technique is also enormous, and the unflinching difficulties of this music seem to pose no problem to him.

Typically for Ashkenazy, this is a thoroughly professional effort with appropriate speed, mood, and color throughout. Hardly anyone can top him in terms of pure accuracy and faithfulness. If it wasn't for the fact that some of the great virtuosos on record, notably Richter, have played many of these sonatas with enormous zest and fire while attaining the same level of accuracy, this would be the best available CD; as it is, no complete set can match it, so it remains a strong recommendation.

Despite its imperfections, I have come to look upon Vladimir Ashkenazy's complete set of Scriabin sonatas as the most satisfying compilation yet available. To be sure, the performances of the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th ánd 10th are lacklustre in some way or another, but because Ashkenazy's best performances (the other half) also rank among the best performances for these sonatas in general, his set seems more valuable to me than one which is merely consistent at rising above-average (Hamelin, Taub) but nothing more. It is rare for any compilation of Scriabin sonatas to contain more than two "hits".

As mentioned, Ashkenazy delivers his strongest performances in the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 8th and 9th sonatas, but the 6th sonata in particular stands out. It is well known that Scriabin thought this sonata to be corrupted by demonic forces, going so far as to refuse to play the work in public. Whether true or not, the sonata is indeed a rather nightmarish piece. Its most striking aspect are the sudden bouts of terror marked "l'épouvante surgit", and it is in these sections where Ashkenazy convinces the most, building up tension in an almost convulsive manner and then releasing it quickly and forcefully. The result is a more agitated, terrifying 6th sonata than any other I've heard. Only Richter's performance is better, but unfortunately his recording is marred by poor sound quality.

Ashkenazy's second best performance on this disc may be the 8th sonata. Few pianists play it well, perhaps due to its murky nature. The 8th sonata is a long, repetitive piece, seemingly without direction and lacking clear contrasts. It hardly seems worth the trouble. Yet under the hands of Ashkenazy it becomes a rather compelling, sinister lounge piece. Sofronitsky's 8th is slightly faster than Ashkenazy's and perhaps even better, but has a lesser recording quality. Ashkenazy's 1st sonata is another top ranking performance, but ultimately edged out by a superior Kocyan, who is more convincing in the first and second movements. I know opinions are extremely divided on the 3rd and 9th sonatas, so without rationalizing my choice too much I will say that Ashkenazy's recordings are the ones I keep coming back to.

Below a short overview of my preferred picks for each individual sonata (in order of preference). I refer to my review of Taub's complete Scriabin sonatas for a more in-depth discussion:

01. Kocyan, Ashkenazy
02. Kocyan, Sofronitsky
03. Ashkenazy, Melnikov
04. Austbų, Gavrilov
05. Richter, Sudbin
06. Ashkenazy, Richter, Laredo
07. Richter (1965), Laredo
08. Ashkenazy, Sofronitsky
09. Ashkenazy
10. Hamelin, Volodos, Sofronitsky
11. Laredo

Again, the absence of a decent 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th and 10th may not recommend Ashkenazy's set, but since it features more hits than any other compilation that I know of, it is still my preferred choice for a complete set. In any case, the bottom line of my review is that there is just no single pianist who stands as the definitive interpreter of Alexander Scriabin.

However, some of the most fanatical Scriabin devotees would do well to reconsider pianists of a "younger" generation, such as Ashkenazy and Laredo, among Scriabin's most important interpreters, instead of just worshipping the ground a Sofronitsky or Horowitz (who I generally find overrated) walked on. The older generation must be heard (Richter and Sofronitsky are essential), but not at the expense of modern recordings. Ashkenazy certainly has his place among the greats.

These CDs have become one of my favorite recordings. Whether Ashkenazy is playing Rachmaninoff Preludes or Chopin, for my money, he consistently produces a direct, sensitive and non-pretentious approach to the music and the composer. What I like about his interpretation of the Scriabin Sonatas is that he plays Scriabin like a true modernist. No wonder Bill Evans, the late, great, jazz pianist, practiced Scriabin at home between club dates--the sonatas are filled with modern, lyrical beauty.

These recordings by Ashkenazy were made over a number of years (in the 1970s and 1980s, both pre- and post-digitally) and consequently the sound is variable. Further, apparently some were live and some done in the studio. Still, there is an overall approach in his playing that makes the set cohere reasonably well, but some of the sonatas fare better than others. Unfortunately, there are some problems. Aside from the rather harsh sound in the earlier recordings, there is some difficulty with technique as well and perhaps some problems with the piano/s used. In the earlier recordings when the music calls for a forte or above the harshness worsens. I don't know whether that is Ashkenazy pounding, the piano he's using, or recording technique. In the softest passages, however, the sound is quite nice, so I'm wondering if the difficulty isn't with how the piano is regulated. At any rate, this is an uneven set in that regard. My favorites, in terms of performance and discounting sound, are the 3rd, 6th, 8th and particularly the impulsive youthful 1st. I also like the 9th; here Ashkenazy manages a luminous pianissimo. I dislike the 7th, which sounds mechanical, and in the 10th his trills - and there are more trills here than can be found in the throat of a Rossini coloratura - are uneven.

Whose recordings would I recommend? Well, I don't have the broadest experience of all the recordings available, but I do remember and like the LP set done by Ruth Laredo, although I haven't listened to them in ages, and I really like Marc-André Hamelin's recent set on Hyperion, although it is rather high-priced. (One advantage to the Ashkenazy set is its modest price.) I've heard some of Robert Taub's performances, although I don't own them, and what I've heard is excellent. Of course, most people hold up Horowitz as the ne plus ultra of Scriabin playing. I'm not one of those--his playing tends to accentuate the neuroticism of the music. I prefer a more classical approach. I don't know Sofronitsky's recordings, nor Richter's, so can't comment about them.

TT=152'11

Scott Morrison

To undertake the difficult task of recording the whole set of Scriabin ` s piano sonatas requires and demands from the soloist, a first-rate technique, a complete understanding of the incorporeal lexicon bellow the score, and being totally immersed in the universe, plenty of kaleidoscopic hues, and the whole gamut of the emotional frequencies of this introspective, genial and taciturn composer, who devoted almost his entire cycle for this instrument.

Ashkenazy is a famed and talented performer, who was born with the gift to express with assertive eloquence the prism of felings, livings and perceptions that are nestled in his scores.

This set must be included among the most relevant achievements of this pianist, as soon as one of the most prominent recordings of these sonatas.

Ashkenazy is a brilliant concerto player (Prokofiev Concerti for example), but just like his Chopin piano solo recordings, Scriabin's sontas really reveal his limit as an artist. He plays beautifully, correctly, and with feelings too, yet completely fails to delve deeper into the spirit of Scriabin's music. Ashkenazy's very orthodox textbook pianism does not possess neither fragile delicacy of Horowitz nor the uncompromising and almost frightening concentration of Richter, let alone the deep mysticism of Sofronitsky. I have a feeling that pianists like Ashkenazy or Kissin, prodigiously gifted though, never question what they are doing all their life, therefore their recordings lack timeless quality of past masters.

If you would like to know real Scriabin, you must listen to Sofronitsky, whom Richter once mentioned as god.