Scriabin - Symphonies Nos.1-3 · Le Poème de l'extase · Promethée, le poème du feu / Stefania Toczyska · Michael Myers · Dmitri Alexeev · Riccardo Muti [Box set, Import]

Alexander Scriabin (Artist), Riccardo Muti (Artist), The Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia The Philadelphia Orchestra (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 5, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Box set, Import
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Angel Records
• ASIN: B00005MIZO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #367,646 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Winner of BBC-3's "Building A Library" shootout, April 11, 2008

By 

R. Ludwig (Scarborough, ME United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scriabin - Symphonies Nos.1-3 · Le Poème de l'extase · Promethée, le poème du feu / Stefania Toczyska · Michael Myers · Dmitri Alexeev · Riccardo Muti (Audio CD)

Winner of BBC-3's "Building A Library" shootout on 5 April 2008. Reviewer William Mival made a very convincing case for the superiority of this recording. His runner-up was a very different interpretation by Evgeny Svetianov and the USSR State Symphony Orchestra. Get both then hear the wide range of valid interpretations possible with this Scriabin masterpiece.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps the definitive set of Scriabin's symphonic music, August 5, 2008

By 

dv_forever (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scriabin - Symphonies Nos.1-3 · Le Poème de l'extase · Promethée, le poème du feu / Stefania Toczyska · Michael Myers · Dmitri Alexeev · Riccardo Muti (Audio CD)

Riccardo Muti has been dedicated to this repertoire for a long time. I even heard him give an interview on the radio where he talks about Scriabin being the next Mahler! Scriabin's time will come and he will be popular like the formerly underappreciated Mahler is nowadays. That's what Muti said! I doubt that. As unique as Scriabin's music is, it's not as interesting or as multi-faceted as Mahler. I do tend to think Mahler is overplayed and over-recorded nowadays and if more conductors were to be advocates for Scriabin like Muti, it can only lead to a richer musical world for everyone.

These five symphonies, or really 3 symphonies and two wild tone poems are pure fin de siecle orgasms. Slithering harmonies, lush orchestration, decadent, exotic sound worlds. A mystical experience. One critic described the Poem of Ecstasy as a cocaine ice bath and this Muti performance nails that description. One thing you absolutely need to have for this kind of music is rich sound quality. Luckily EMI does Scriabin and Muti proud, capturing the sensational playing of the famous Philadelphia Orchestra. It's this of kind delicious music making that harkens back to the days of Ormandy and even more so to Stokowski.

Stokowski recorded the Poem of Ecstasy several times but Muti surpasses him on account of the sound quality which is top of the line in every respect. In the first symphony, Muti luxuriates in the textures far more so than Jarvi or Ashkenazy, his Scriabin competitors. They have more propulsion in a couple of places but overall I would say that Muti's Scriabin is unsurpassed and not really challenged as far as a complete survey of this repertoire. If Scriabin's orchestral works intrigue you in any way, these recordings are indispensable.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Muti's Great Acheivement!, December 9, 2007

By 

Scriabinmahler (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scriabin - Symphonies Nos.1-3 · Le Poème de l'extase · Promethée, le poème du feu / Stefania Toczyska · Michael Myers · Dmitri Alexeev · Riccardo Muti (Audio CD)

These towerling performance of Scriabin's orchestral masterpieces remains as one of the greatest achievements by Muti and Philadelphia Orchestra. Especailly the third Symphony and Poem of Ecstasy surpass all existing recordings for its gorgeous sound, masterful timing of silence at crucial moments, gigantic finale and incandescent build-up to each climax. Only Pletnev's account of the Ecstasy can rival the grandeur. Ashkenazy's polite accounts do not come even close.

Other symphonies are equally outstanding too. The first symphony is hugely under-rated masterpiece, full of inspired melodies and superb vocal parts. What a shame Scriabin did not write more for voice! Rich Philadelphia sound is beautifully recorded with warmth and amazing dynamic range (The distortion is only slight due to the enormous force of the sound at the climax).