Scriabin - Sonata No. 5

[quantum]

Well here is a take at Scriabin's 5th sonata.  I say "a take" because this kind of music leads itself to wide variation in interpretation.  I found this recording turned out longer than I normally play it - I did take my time with the Meno Vivo sections.  Every time I play it, it turns out a bit different.  I find there are so many different ideas to bring out in the music, that you can't do it all in a single performance.  

For those who are not familiar with this music I have included below the program notes I composed for use in my 3rd year university recital:

In December 1907, shortly after finishing his symphony The Poem of Ecstasy Op. 54 Scriabin wrote to a patron: "Today I have almost finished my Fifth Sonata.  It is a big poem for piano and I deem it the best piano composition I have ever written.  I do not know by what miracle I accomplished it..."  As Scriabin later explained, the miracle was that he had "seen" the entire sonata as a vision, as a reality outside himself.  It took Scriabin six days to capture the Fifth Sonata on his piano and another three days to write it down.  Considering the sonata's frequent passages of "imperious summoning," Scriabin appended a few lines from his own Poem of Ecstasy on to the first page of the score:

I summon you to life, secret yearnings!
You who have been drowned in the dark depths
Of the creative spirit, you timorous
Embryos of life, it is to you that I bring daring."

While the presto con allegrezza passages describe the ecstasy and divine joy of him who dares to answer that call to life, there are explicit sexual overtones in the now ardent and languid slow sections.  The Fifth Sonata is also a play of light in music - a subject Scriabin was to further explore in later compositions.  The ending is a blaze of high intensity, sheets of vaporous luminosity, blinding and burning.  

****

Scriabin - Sonata No. 5
Mic: (2x) Studio Projects B1
Interface: Edirol UA-25
Reverb: Adobe Audition - Medium Concert Hall Crisp
Piano: Yamaha C3

Enjoy!

[I Love Xenakis]

The intro needs some serious speeding up.

Would it be possible to hear a recording of how fast you normally play this?  Cause like 17 minutes....  that's REALLY pushing it o.o


Jah...  the interp is very good most of the time but this is way too slow.  Please upload a faster recording.

[quantum]

Hmm, well I was expecting those who have heard this to find it a bit slow.  What I concentrated on is tone colour, not time.  I agree that 17 min is stretching it by comparing it to how others play it, but it also explores sounds one cannot achieve when going too fast.  As my teacher once told me use tone not time.  I am aiming for a performance where the listener can take joy in discovering nuance.

Personally I kind of like the sound of the slower intro, it gives you more time to umph the trills.  Otherwise it's bam bam bam 10 secs later the audeince hasn't known what hit them and they have already reached full langour mode.  That plus the accell. has less effect if you already start too fast. 

The presto section close to my normal speed.  Don't expect Hamelin's speed, nor would I want to play it that fast if I could.   I feel there are many great harmonic progressions in the presto that too many commercial recordings just brush off. 

[I Love Xenakis]

o.o


I have read what you said... but too slow.

[quantum]

...fair enough. 

I guess I should say, SDC members listening to this may cause you to utter a four letter word 

[xire]

Hi quantum. First of all I want to say that I really like your piano sound and recording quality.


I'm not a piano professional, but I heard some different recordings of Sonata No. 5. I must say that I really like the way you play it, maybe it's different than how others play it, but in your recording, that's a good thing imo.

I'm not that experienced yet to tell you what you should change, if there is something that you should change in my eyes. But I don't have anything to say about your recording, I just liked what I heard, and that's what counts, right? 


Keep up the good work!

[Derek]

Very nice dude, I love this piece. It's played a bit slower than normal---and I like that. I don't understand why the vast majority of classical players are obsessed with breakneck speed. Its actually easier to hear the complex rhythms and harmonies at this speed, I love it! great work!

[wzkit]

I agree that listening to the Scriabin 5th played at this tempo takes a little getting used to, but that said, I'd prefer to listen to your interpretation on its own terms and not judge it based on my own pre-conception of the music.

You are right about hearing things that you would not normally get to hear on faster interpretations, and I think your slower tempo also highlights some of the harmonic progressions much more clearly, than say, in Richter' or Horowitz's recordings. It also brings out the sensousness of the music. And I must say: Great tone from a Yamaha C3.

Congratulations on a very good job!

[superstition2]

It's not very good, but would be better with a faster tempo and less monotonous phrasing. The opening "rocket effect" as Taub calls it, is sloppy and surprisingly too fast given the much slower tempo that folows it. The pace and singularity of tempo makes the piece seem like a slog, like a sight-reading practice exercise, not a finished interpretation. I couldn't finish it.

[quantum]

It's not very good, but would be better with a faster tempo and less monotonous phrasing. The opening "rocket effect" as Taub calls it, is sloppy and surprisingly too fast given the much slower tempo that folows it. The pace and singularity of tempo makes the piece seem like a slog, like a sight-reading practice exercise, not a finished interpretation. I couldn't finish it.

Superstition2, from the way you commented Koji in his sonata thread and others in the audition room - I have nothing to say to you.  The tone of your messages that you continually project to others who offer their recordings here is getting rather tiresome.  The more you post comments on recordings here with such a tone, the harder I find it to take you seriously. 

Have you ever heard the fable of the boy who cried wolf, or the fox and the crane?

[quantum]

Thank you to everyone else who took time to listen and post their comments.

[arensky]

I like this very much quantum. Your tone color is beautiful, pp as well as FFF, well suited to Scriabin. Your melodic phrasing, the same. My only complaint is that the presto sections should be faster. Your tempi work quite well, though. It's nice to hear a lot of the details that are obscured at faster tempi. Your voicing and balance of the chords is excellent. You could let go more at climaxes, but that is just my preference. This is an excellent performance of this work; thank you for posting this. You are a good musician as well as a very good pianist! 

BTW I DO have a deep understanding of and insight into Scriabin's music ! 

[superstition2]

Superstition2, from the way you commented Koji in his sonata thread and others in the audition room - I have nothing to say to you.  The tone of your messages that you continually project to others who offer their recordings here is getting rather tiresome.  The more you post comments on recordings here with such a tone, the harder I find it to take you seriously. 

Have you ever heard the fable of the boy who cried wolf, or the fox and the crane?

You replied to me, so you obviously do have something to say.

All I'm offering here is my honest opinion. I'm not going to tell you you're as good as Horowitz, and I'm not going to say that to Koji, either. Others load on the flattery, and I don't. Deal with it.

People should be posting here to get constructive feedback so they can improve. It shouldn't be an empty "look what I can do" exercise where the player gets flattery and no feedback that can lead to improvement.

Your sonata 5 is poor. The only thing you can do is practice more and play it better in the future. Or, you can ignore my response. Either way, it's your choice.

Koji's Scriabin 10th is close to being professional quality. It's not there yet, and it's not just as good as top pianists, like some others said. His interpretive ability lags behind his technical ability. I think that, if people don't flatter so much, and if he can move beyond blaming audiences and being egotistical, he'll get to the point where he's got a recording contract.

There are plenty of sub-par pianists like Scherbakov around who record for labels like Naxos, so perhaps my standard is too high. It's just that if I had his technical ability, I'd want to get better with the interpretation so that my performances are among the top around, not merely second tier.

People can get as mad as they like from reading my opinions, and that's their choice. Politeness, when it leads to false feedback, is just as bad as excessive rudeness.

[crazy for ivan moravec]

You replied to me, so you obviously do have something to say.

All I'm offering here is my honest opinion. I'm not going to tell you you're as good as Horowitz, and I'm not going to say that to Koji, either. Others load on the flattery, and I don't. Deal with it.

People should be posting here to get constructive feedback so they can improve. It shouldn't be an empty "look what I can do" exercise where the player gets flattery and no feedback that can lead to improvement.

Your sonata 5 is poor. The only thing you can do is practice more and play it better in the future. Or, you can ignore my response. Either way, it's your choice.

Koji's Scriabin 10th is close to being professional quality. It's not there yet, and it's not just as good as top pianists, like some others said. His interpretive ability lags behind his technical ability. I think that, if people don't flatter so much, and if he can move beyond blaming audiences and being egotistical, he'll get to the point where he's got a recording contract.

There are plenty of sub-par pianists like Scherbakov around who record for labels like Naxos, so perhaps my standard is too high. It's just that if I had his technical ability, I'd want to get better with the interpretation so that my performances are among the top around, not merely second tier.

People can get as mad as they like from reading my opinions, and that's their choice. Politeness, when it leads to false feedback, is just as bad as excessive rudeness.

whatever dude.

[crazy for ivan moravec]

You replied to me, so you obviously do have something to say.

All I'm offering here is my honest opinion. I'm not going to tell you you're as good as Horowitz, and I'm not going to say that to Koji, either. Others load on the flattery, and I don't. Deal with it.

People should be posting here to get constructive feedback so they can improve. It shouldn't be an empty "look what I can do" exercise where the player gets flattery and no feedback that can lead to improvement.

Your sonata 5 is poor. The only thing you can do is practice more and play it better in the future. Or, you can ignore my response. Either way, it's your choice.

Koji's Scriabin 10th is close to being professional quality. It's not there yet, and it's not just as good as top pianists, like some others said. His interpretive ability lags behind his technical ability. I think that, if people don't flatter so much, and if he can move beyond blaming audiences and being egotistical, he'll get to the point where he's got a recording contract.

There are plenty of sub-par pianists like Scherbakov around who record for labels like Naxos, so perhaps my standard is too high. It's just that if I had his technical ability, I'd want to get better with the interpretation so that my performances are among the top around, not merely second tier.

People can get as mad as they like from reading my opinions, and that's their choice. Politeness, when it leads to false feedback, is just as bad as excessive rudeness.

really?

[pianorama]

You replied to me, so you obviously do have something to say.

All I'm offering here is my honest opinion. I'm not going to tell you you're as good as Horowitz, and I'm not going to say that to Koji, either. Others load on the flattery, and I don't. Deal with it.

People should be posting here to get constructive feedback so they can improve. It shouldn't be an empty "look what I can do" exercise where the player gets flattery and no feedback that can lead to improvement.

Your sonata 5 is poor. The only thing you can do is practice more and play it better in the future. Or, you can ignore my response. Either way, it's your choice.

Koji's Scriabin 10th is close to being professional quality. It's not there yet, and it's not just as good as top pianists, like some others said. His interpretive ability lags behind his technical ability. I think that, if people don't flatter so much, and if he can move beyond blaming audiences and being egotistical, he'll get to the point where he's got a recording contract.

There are plenty of sub-par pianists like Scherbakov around who record for labels like Naxos, so perhaps my standard is too high. It's just that if I had his technical ability, I'd want to get better with the interpretation so that my performances are among the top around, not merely second tier.

People can get as mad as they like from reading my opinions, and that's their choice. Politeness, when it leads to false feedback, is just as bad as excessive rudeness.

You are an arrogent jerk. No one here is handing out pure sugar-coated flattery. People are kindly critisizing, showing more insight, without sounding like you. You can and should critisize, but you shouldn't be so rude and arrogant. And you can't compare people here to world-famous professionals! Most people here are just playing for fun, who realise they aren't as good as, say, Horowitz. In fact, I'm going to post a recording pretty soon in here as soon as I get it together and move the digital piano downstairs, and I'm 11! Would you harshly critisize me and say I am no where near good as Horowitz or Liszt? I think I realise that already! The recording is fairly slow, but maybe Quantum thinks that it isn't as powerful or melodic when it's faster! In fact, that's exactly what he said, more or less! You need some humility. And I'm not just judging you from this, but what you generally say about other's recordings. If you claim to know so much about style and phrasing, why don't you give us a recording of your own?