SCRIABIN REDUX
Melvyn M. Sobel | Freeport (Long Island), New York | 01/23/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Eagerly awaited, this CD reincarnation must be heralded for its inclusion of Estrin's trailblazing premiere recording of Scriabin's twelve youthful Etudes, Op. 8 (1894), originally released on LP by Connoisseur Society in 1969, a performance as luminous then as it is today. Few pianists have tackled these Chopinesque "studies" in their entirety, and none with the romantic fervor of Estrin, nor with such balanced idiomatic sensibility and sentiment. The fascinatingly varied Op. 8 collection eschews the academic for the lyrical; it manifests all the intrinsic elements that, in the right hands, become a sublime union between artist and composer, and not merely a pyrotechnical "affair." Estrin's devotion to these glorious pieces creates just such a fusion. It becomes our own, the emotional magnetism absolutely inescapable and indelible. Rave reviews by both the NY Times and Stereo Review, over thirty years ago, were (and still are) completely justified. There can be little doubt that Estrin's remarkably captivating interpretation may have single-handedly launched the Scriabin renaissance of the 1970s. This is music and pianism not to be missed. As encores, over thirty minutes' worth of plums from Rachmaninoff, Rubinstein, Prokofiev, Liadov and Khatchaturian are added, all played with delicacy, affection, flair and, of course, the eponymous Russian "soul."
[Running time: 65:29]
"