Search - Alexander Scriabin, Ruth Laredo :: Alexander Scriabin: The Complete Piano Sonatas

Solid performances, compressed sound

SRS | Ohio | 04/08/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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.



Ebm posthumous: Glemser.



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 (definitely 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



Regrettably, the posthumous sonatas are not included and not every performance is outstanding, but it does offer a top-notch third sonata, a great seventh, and solid performances of the first, sixth, eighth, op. 42 etudes, and Vers La Flamme. The 5th sonata is not well-performed here. The 4th has a bouncy feel in the second movement, and the 9th begins with no mystery. The tight (not spacious) analog sound should be braved by Scriabin aficianados, but those new to his music should stick with Taub's complete set (also missing the posthumous sonatas, regrettably), at least at first."

Romantic piano music masterfully performed

G-Dexter | Lakewood, NY United States | 07/31/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This amazing collection of Scriabin Piano works is deeply moving, challenging for the listener and brilliantly executed. Scriabin was a composer well ahead of his time in many ways, yet much of his early work is highly romantic and quite beautiful; However you can perceptably follow his development as his works become more modern in nature, and in places he foreshadows composers who would come later with dissonant and almost minimalistic passages.



I find Ms. Laredo's performances inspired and masterful. The works were recorded in 1970, far before the advent of digital reproduction, and occasionally the limitations of the equipment tell with sometimes too soft, sometimes too bright sound quality. I have been too fascinated and enthralled with the music and the performances to be seriously bothered by these minor annoyances.



Finally, I must say a brief word about the packaging, which is beautiful. The stark photograph of Scriabin against a fuliginous black background is so tastefully done that I would love to purchase, frame and proudly display this artwork in my home.



I highly recommend this work to any fan of Scriabin's work, or of romantic piano in general."

Masterful technique

Avid Reader | Franklin, Tn | 03/04/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Alexander Scriabin was one of the last of the great Russian Romantic school who became a leader of the modern vanguard. This recording traces that musical evolution brilliantly. Many have associated Laredo with the Baroque or Classical genre but with this CD she proves that there are apparently no areas in which she is not proficient.The sounds produced here are nothing short of stupendous - from the loudest fortissimo to the quietest pppppp (that is a true marking). The technique is so completely masterful that one almost takes the devilish fingering, concorted chortds and fluttering dynamics for granted. The other outstanding feature of Scriabin's music is the continual "lift" as the music is in a constant state of key changes and transforming "rises". This is an important CD in that it traces the development of an enormously talented yet ultimately irrational artist. One item of note is that his son, who was remarkably gifted, drowned as a young lad. Otherwise we might have had a father-son musical continuum, the maturation of which we can only surmise. Liked other commentators, I enjoyed the dark, stark cover.To understand Scriabin one must understand the Sonatas and his reaction to them. One way to understand the Sonatas is by listening to this recording."