Scriabin performers

[liszmaninopin]

I would like to get a cd featuring Scriabin's Sonatas and Etudes.  What would you recommend as the best performance available?

[chopiabin]

I think Horowitz's are incredible. For a great set of the etudes, try Piers Lane's on Hyperion records. Many people will boo me, but Asgkenazy's set of the sonatas is pretty good, especially the 5th (my favorite). I really like Ashkenazy's because the recording is clear, unlike many of those by the older masters, such as Horowitz.

[thracozaag]

I think Horowitz's are incredible. For a great set of the etudes, try Piers Lane's on Hyperion records. Many people will boo me, but Asgkenazy's set of the sonatas is pretty good, especially the 5th (my favorite). I really like Ashkenazy's because the recording is clear, unlike many of those by the older masters, such as Horowitz.

 Complete Sonatas: Hamelin, Zhukov (if you can find it)
AVOID the Ashkenazy, great sound, boring performances.
 As far as individual sonatas, the holy trinity of Scriabin players is Sofronitsky, Horowitz and Richter.

[rachfan]

I think Ruth Laredo does a very creditable job with Scriabin as well.  I have her complete Scriabin piano sonatas and the Etudes, Op. 42 in a Nonesuch boxed 2-CD set.  I like her playing there a great deal, enhanced by the Baldwin SD10 she plays.

[thracozaag]

I think Ruth Laredo does a very creditable job with Scriabin as well.  I have her complete Scriabin piano sonatas and the Etudes, Op. 42 in a Nonesuch boxed 2-CD set.  I like her playing there a great deal, enhanced by the Baldwin SD10 she plays.

 no comment.

[chopiabin]

I once heard her Rachmaninov 2nd sonata and it was awful. She scares me.

[scriabinsmyman]

ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[L.K.]

I have a CD featuring 5 different pianists playing Scriabin pieces: Goldenweiser, Feinberg, Neuhaus, Sofronitsky and Scriabin himself.

[cherub_rocker1979]

You can't go wrong with Piers Lane in the Etudes.

[pita bread]

  Complete Sonatas: Hamelin, Zhukov (if you can find it)
AVOID the Ashkenazy, great sound, boring performances.
  As far as individual sonatas, the holy trinity of Scriabin players is Sofronitsky, Horowitz and Richter.

I wouldn't say Hamelin's Scriabin is much more interesting than Ashkenazy's. Both are nice and clear I guess.

Sonata 5 - Sofronitsky is about as good as it gets
Sonata 7 - Szidon's is pretty insane

[arensky]

I have a CD featuring 5 different pianists playing Scriabin pieces: Goldenweiser, Feinberg, Neuhaus, Sofronitsky and Scriabin himself.

Is the Scriabin performance a sound recording or a piano roll? His Welte-Mignon roll of the D# minor Etude op.8 #12 is a great performance, I assume if he made one roll he made others, or sound recordings...

[pianowelsh]

I dont know of the precice recording but Mr Sofrontitsky is reputed to be the greatest or at least most accurate interpreter of Scriabins music.  He was i believe his so-in-law and spent considerable time with scriabin by all accounts if you want to understand scriabins pedalling - the most ellusive aspect - then sofrontitsky is the person to listen to. There arent so many recordings available of him though as He was at his height when Russia as a nation was isolated from the west and many recordings are lost/unpublished but i believe there are a few now. I think the Great pianists series has a disc devoted to sofrontitsky but im not sure how much of it is devoted to scriabin.  When i studied his complete piano works for a project I listened to Vladimir ashkenazy for the sonatas and various people, Horowitz,Ashkenazy,Mosevich etc for the etudes Berman would also be good to listen to. Becarefull when selecting recordings though because its easy to fall into the trap of thinking Russians will understad this music.  Not all do! Many will play him like Rachmaninov and this is incorrect because where Rachmaninov favoured a very rich rooted sound where all the main gestures in his piano writing plunge down into the keys Scriabin is the opposite He floats and lifts up above a cloud of bass sound and a good performance of his music should catch this upward moving energy and sense of elevation. Hence Rachmaninovs recordings of Scriabins music whilst being fascinating and of course very well played actually often miss essential ingredients of fine Scriabin performance.  Happy hunting

[fredo2]

can someone tell me good pieces by scriabin ? I did not listend to much but, but most of the time it bires me.And i never found a piece that i actually wanted to play when i heard it.Just trying to find something of him that i could like...

[cherub_rocker1979]

I dont know of the precice recording but Mr Sofrontitsky is reputed to be the greatest or at least most accurate interpreter of Scriabins music.  He was i believe his so-in-law and spent considerable time with scriabin by all accounts if you want to understand scriabins pedalling - the most ellusive aspect - then sofrontitsky is the person to listen to. There arent so many recordings available of him though as He was at his height when Russia as a nation was isolated from the west and many recordings are lost/unpublished but i believe there are a few now. I think the Great pianists series has a disc devoted to sofrontitsky but im not sure how much of it is devoted to scriabin.  When i studied his complete piano works for a project I listened to Vladimir ashkenazy for the sonatas and various people, Horowitz,Ashkenazy,Mosevich etc for the etudes Berman would also be good to listen to. Becarefull when selecting recordings though because its easy to fall into the trap of thinking Russians will understad this music.  Not all do! Many will play him like Rachmaninov and this is incorrect because where Rachmaninov favoured a very rich rooted sound where all the main gestures in his piano writing plunge down into the keys Scriabin is the opposite He floats and lifts up above a cloud of bass sound and a good performance of his music should catch this upward moving energy and sense of elevation. Hence Rachmaninovs recordings of Scriabins music whilst being fascinating and of course very well played actually often miss essential ingredients of fine Scriabin performance.  Happy hunting

Sofronitsky is not the most accurate.  In Etude op. 8 no. 3 he swings the LH 8th notes that start on m. 17 instead of playing them straight like a jazz pianist.

[superstition2]

I would like to get a cd featuring Scriabin's Sonatas and Etudes.  What would you recommend as the best performance available?

If you're just getting one disc, get Sony's "Horowitz Plays Scriabin".

After that, get the Ashkenazy/Maazel disc with Poem of Ecstasy, Piano Concerto, and Prometheus.

After that, get Bernd Glemser's Scriabin sonatas volume 1 (not volume 2!)

After that, get Robert Taub's complete sonatas set. If you really get into the sonatas, get Ashkenazy's set for its 1st and 8th sonatas.

Richter's performances of the short pieces is inferior to Horowitz's on the CD I have, but he recorded the best 6th sonata I've heard. Unfortunately, the sound is absolutely terrible.

Here's my ranking of Scriabin sonata collections:

1. Robert Taub. Best performances: 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 10th. Poor 7th, mediocre 8th.
2. Bernd Glemser (disc 1): Best performances: 2nd (mvmt. 1), 7th sonata, B minor fantasy
3. Vladimir Ashkenazy. Best performances: 1st, 8th. Poor 7th and 10th. Choppy 5th.
4. Marc-André Hamelin. Best performances: G# posthumous, 5th. Most performances are lacking a bit. They're competent, but boring. The 5th is quite good, however.
5. Roberto Szidon. Best performances: 8th. I'm still evaluating this set. It's not bad.
6. Ruth Laredo. Best performances: 1st, 7th, 10th. Awful 5th. Mediocre 4th and 8th. Sound lacks dynamic range. Laredo isn't a bad pianist, but the piano and the sound quality are outdated.

Avoid:

Ogdon.
Ponti.
Scherbakov.
Paley.

[infectedmushroom]

I don't know how much Kissin plays of Scriabin, but the Etudes I heard, played by Kissin, were really good!

[pianowelsh]

Sofrontitsky still gets more of the essence of Scriabin than most of the above mentioned performers.  Scriabin himself played shed loads of wrong notes even on his own piano roll recordings (as incidetally did Debussy and many other composer/pianists - alas they are but mortal!).  I agree that Ogdons recordings are not all considently good in this repertoire He is a bit heavy handed at times. fredo2.  What kind of rep do you enjoy to play??? Scriabins early works sound very like Chopins - he idolised him as a youngster.  His late works go a bit crazy and we had white and black note clusters and really 'massive' sounds with the pedals and cacophonous harmonies.  His middle period experiments quite a bit and has shadows of Rachmaninov etc but with really skittish rhythms and plush harmonies. My personal favourites are his etudes op 8 and 42 and the Fantasy Bmin and sonatas 1-5 the preludes op11 are really nice too and paralell Chopins quite a lot. Vers la flame is also a very exciting piece.

[al]

Has anyone heard any of Gordon Fergus-Thompson's complete Scriabin? I believe he's recorded 5 out of 8 CDs so far.

[alessandro]

Scriabin Sonates by Severin von Eckardstein, 2005

[dnephi]

My favorite are horowitz/richter Op. 42 No. 5 and Horowitz Op. 8 No. 12, various performances. 

Check out Richter's CD "Richter plays Scriabin".

[chopianist123]

Horowitz, Ashkenazy, Richter - All Brilliant. 

[jre58591]

hamelin's sonatas are first rate, for every performance. ashkenazy's are ok, but dont come close to hamelin. also, ive heard some recordings of sonatas on their own that are god, like kuzmin's 4th sonata, which is the benchmark for me. for the etudes, there is really no perfect set. each one has its problems. the ones i least like are piers lane. i think his tempos are too unconventional. also, he seems to lack the passion ive heard in other recordings, like arthur greene, for example.id say to mix and match recordings for the etudes. different people's recs work for different ears. in my case, i least like lane's. it does vary from person to person, keep that in mind.

[quasimodo]

 no comment.

Koji, you don't like the Laredo's recordings?
I find them quite interesting for the etudes Op.42, as a studio work. Probably a lot of edition, though, but the rendition stroke me.

[mephisto]

hamelin's sonatas are first rate, for every performance. ashkenazy's are ok, but dont come close to hamelin. also, ive heard some recordings of sonatas on their own that are god, like kuzmin's 4th sonata, which is the benchmark for me. for the etudes, there is really no perfect set. each one has its problems. the ones i least like are piers lane. i think his tempos are too unconventional. also, he seems to lack the passion ive heard in other recordings, like arthur greene, for example.id say to mix and match recordings for the etudes. different people's recs work for different ears. in my case, i least like lane's. it does vary from person to person, keep that in mind.

Ashkenazy`s live performance are better than Hamelin.  Of course that is subjective. Ashkenazy`s studio Scriabin is not very good, and you did probably judge him based on those. His live performances on the other hand are GODLY

My favourite Scriabin pianists are:
Hamelin
Horowitz
Ashkenazy
Austbø
Richter
Berman and SOFRONITSKY(at his best that is, some of his recs are not very good, but the best once are unsurpassable)

Szidon is not bad either. Haven`t heard Zhukov or Gavrilov yet.

[hodi]

hamelin complete set of sonatas is awesome
it also comes with his fantasy op.28 - a great piece

i really like richter for everything - his scriabin is no exception
he produces such unusual sounds in scriabin's sonata no.5

[phil13]

Horowitz is my favorite in general for most Scriabin.

I only own one set of the complete Etudes, and that is Magaloff. It's good, and clean, but he can be a bit too dry sometimes.

Phil

[pianolist]

In case it is of interest, you will find Scriabin himself playing his Poème, Op. 32, No. 1, at:

www.pianola.org/reproducing/reproducing.cfm

I have also made an mp3 of him playing two of the Opus 11 Preludes, and I'll upload it to the audition room. All these recordings were made in Moscow in early February, 1910, as far as we can tell.

The modern audio was recorded on a Steinway Welte-Mignon piano in the suburbs of London earlier this year. It's not a resonant studio acoustic, but then neither was the room where Scriabin recorded.

[tompilk]

hamelin's sonata 1 is fantastic... it really is so furious and fast, and raw just like I feel it's suposed to be played,and his 10th sonata is incredible too... and indispensible CD...
Tom

[wofsy]

There are several pianists of the late 19'th century tradition that play Scriabin the way his music was intended. They comprise a tradition which in my opinion is now lost. They are late Romantics, with a taste for altering rhythms and meter, a certain Slavic melancholy, an understanding of the dance forms of the time.

Scriabin himself played this way as did Goldewieser and others. Horowitz was probably the last exponent of this lost style but because of his tendency to bang the piano I prefer some of the more lyrical playing of those earlier pianists.

Modern pianists such as Richter play nicely but not within this tradition. The same I think is true of modern playing of Chopin.

[diomedes]

Since this surfaced, i'll comment. These are opinions, but i've lived with this music for a long time and played most of it. It'd be interesting to hear opinions:

Fergus Thompson - came across these very early on with my acquaintance of Scriabin, i think some are still very good. I'd have to relisten to them. I remember his 5th being very good.

Ogdon - impossible to surpass, his resources are monstrous, and dedication to the strength of the music is the best there ever will be. His 4th and 5th are not always my favorites.

Hamelin - his pianistic resources are up to the task but i find they don't produce the correct emotional delivery, if there is one. I found them fairly hollow, and the technique almost too easy and perfect. It's not that he cannot deliver something of substance (his night wind still has moments where i cannot find better) but usually there's something weak about his playing. I can't find any better words.

Laredo - an imposter, weak pianist, fallible technique, unconvincing performances. The piano has an interesting sound

Ashkenazy - Never really interested me.

Szidon - generally very good.

Ponti - poor recording quality, i should listen to these again, but from what i recall i generally find his approach rushed, but has strength if you dislike slow performances.

Lettenberg - Not convincing, at some point i did listen to her but recall being uninterested.

Richter - needless to say committed and convincing. Probably not the best, but highly recommended.

Sofronitsky - Definetly highly recommended, but i have not listened to these recently either.

Boris Berman - i distinctly recall his late sonatas being very good in places.

Zhukov - He appears to think Scriabin is synonymous with Bruckner. Those are some unusual negotiation skills.

Taub - not a good idea

[louispodesta]

In case it is of interest, you will find Scriabin himself playing his Poème, Op. 32, No. 1, at:

www.pianola.org/reproducing/reproducing.cfm

I have also made an mp3 of him playing two of the Opus 11 Preludes, and I'll upload it to the audition room. All these recordings were made in Moscow in early February, 1910, as far as we can tell.

The modern audio was recorded on a Steinway Welte-Mignon piano in the suburbs of London earlier this year. It's not a resonant studio acoustic, but then neither was the room where Scriabin recorded.

This is a link to Ken Caswell's digital stereo recording, which has Scriabin and other performers.

https://www.amazon.com/Welte-Mignon-Recordings-Alexander-Scriabin/dp/B0001LY9VY

The point is, that Scriabin (like other performers of his day, and before) is rolling chords at certain times (for effect), also playing the bass note before the soprano, and then adjusting his tempo, which could be (accurately) interpreted as improvising.

This is in contrast to the strict Russian note-perfect playing commonly associated with this composer.

[alistaircrane4]

Sofronitsky is the way to go. If you want to really enjoy the pieces go with him. If you do not want to enjoy it go with Horowitz. Horowitz did not have the talent for interpretation that his contemporaries did. He is the Lang Lang of that era.

[theholygideons]

Horowitz did not have the talent for interpretation that his contemporaries did. He is the Lang Lang of that era.

what the f**k....... are you talking about. *no comment*....  we are talking about his scriabin and not his Chopin, right?

[minor9th]

I just ordered Anatol Ugorski's set of Sonatas. The timings suggest rather slow tempos, but he always has something interesting to say, so I eagerly await its arrival.

[alistaircrane4]

what the f**k....... are you talking about. *no comment*....  we are talking about his scriabin and not his Chopin, right?

Yes his Scriabin, but he has a blanket effect. Not just his Chopin lacks good interpretation even his Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky lack terribly....

[dosan12]

Feinberg is quite underrated in this regard, most people either know him by his Bach or his 6th sonata, and I think that his Scriabin is superb, one of the best I've encountered even if he didn't do many recordings.
His take on the 4th sonata is my personal favorite, possibly the most joyious Scriabin I've heard.

[quantum]

Since this surfaced, i'll comment. These are opinions, but i've lived with this music for a long time and played most of it. It'd be interesting to hear opinions:

Fergus Thompson - came across these very early on with my acquaintance of Scriabin, i think some are still very good. I'd have to relisten to them. I remember his 5th being very good.

Ogdon - impossible to surpass, his resources are monstrous, and dedication to the strength of the music is the best there ever will be. His 4th and 5th are not always my favorites.

Hamelin - his pianistic resources are up to the task but i find they don't produce the correct emotional delivery, if there is one. I found them fairly hollow, and the technique almost too easy and perfect. It's not that he cannot deliver something of substance (his night wind still has moments where i cannot find better) but usually there's something weak about his playing. I can't find any better words.

Laredo - an imposter, weak pianist, fallible technique, unconvincing performances. The piano has an interesting sound

Ashkenazy - Never really interested me.

Szidon - generally very good.

Ponti - poor recording quality, i should listen to these again, but from what i recall i generally find his approach rushed, but has strength if you dislike slow performances.

Lettenberg - Not convincing, at some point i did listen to her but recall being uninterested.

Richter - needless to say committed and convincing. Probably not the best, but highly recommended.

Sofronitsky - Definetly highly recommended, but i have not listened to these recently either.

Boris Berman - i distinctly recall his late sonatas being very good in places.

Zhukov - He appears to think Scriabin is synonymous with Bruckner. Those are some unusual negotiation skills.

Taub - not a good idea

Interesting, as several of the performances you are rather critical of are ones which I like.

[diomedes]

Interesting, as several of the performances you are rather critical of are ones which I like.

It's been very long since i have spent time listening to them, so these opinions might be dated or incorrect on my part. Admitting i'm wrong is definitely something i don't mind doing. I should evaluate these again, it seems. Which ones do you feel strongly about? I'll start with those.

Feinberg is quite underrated in this regard, most people either know him by his Bach or his 6th sonata, and I think that his Scriabin is superb, one of the best I've encountered even if he didn't do many recordings.

I initially got to know of him through the Bach transcriptions, but the BIS recording of his sonatas changed many things, including the fact that there actually is a line of thought of Scriabin's style after his death. Not the same line, but parallel in some ways.

I just ordered Anatol Ugorski's set of Sonatas. The timings suggest rather slow tempos, but he always has something interesting to say, so I eagerly await its arrival.

I have never come across that one, and i'm unfamiliar with his work.

[louispodesta]

Sofronitsky is the way to go. If you want to really enjoy the pieces go with him. If you do not want to enjoy it go with Horowitz. Horowitz did not have the talent for interpretation that his contemporaries did. He is the Lang Lang of that era.

I could not agree with "theholygideons" more.  Obviously, you have not listened extensively to Horowitz' early studio recordings nor any of his live recordings from the same period.

The man was both rhapsodic and lyrical at a very high level.  As further proof, in regards Scriabin, I list a late live recording for your listening pleasure:

[alistaircrane4]

I could not agree with "theholygideons" more.  Obviously, you have not listened extensively to Horowitz' early studio recordings nor any of his live recordings from the same period.

The man was both rhapsodic and lyrical at a very high level.  As further proof, in regards Scriabin, I list a late live recording for your listening pleasure:

I have listened to Horowitz extensively enough to know I cannot find any pleasure in listening to his playing.

[theholygideons]

I have listened to Horowitz extensively enough to know I cannot find any pleasure in listening to his playing.

Because Horowitz isn't pleasing at all to your sweet tooth. You like muddy sound with rubato all over like most conservatory pianists nowadays. You should check out ROBERTO SZIDON and his Scriabin Fantasy for the sonorities he is able to achieve is phenomenal as well.

[j_menz]

Might I remind people that "my taste is better than yours" is a pretty pointless argument. 

[theholygideons]

Might I remind people that "my taste is better than yours" is a pretty pointless argument. 

yes, yet to say with absolute conviction that a performer is of no good (horowitz in this case) is equally dangerous. Maybe some people have gotten too old that they can no longer taste youthful emotions anymore.

[j_menz]

yes, yet to say with absolute conviction that a performer is of no good (horowitz in this case) is equally dangerous. Maybe some people have gotten too old that they can no longer taste youthful emotions anymore.

To find Horowitz's performances satisfactory or unsatisfactory is one thing (and ultimately says more about the listener then Horowitz - for good or bad), but Horowitz was clearly in control of his output, so like it or lump it, basically. He is not in the realm of "could have done better", he's in the realm of de gustibus non disputandem - something people should have engraved on their keyboards and consult before posting.

[visitor]

yes, yet to say with absolute conviction that a performer is of no good (horowitz in this case) is equally dangerous. Maybe some people have gotten too old that they can no longer taste youthful emotions anymore.

Hah your comment on youthful emotion in piano playing totally reminded me if this!


Also my contribute to the discussion.
Volodos.  Not super humongous fan of all his performing but I rank his playing of fantasie op28 in my top 3 favs. ( and the piece is into top 3 fav pieces of all time)

Here is, some youthful potatoes

[j_menz]

here is, some youthful potatoes

Evidently some gustibi are more disputable than others. 

[theholygideons]

Hah your comment on youthful emotion in piano playing totally reminded me if this!

I meant in emotional content, not some erotic headbanging!!! and definitely not some mashed youthful emotions (potatoes) with no form.

[outin]

Because Horowitz isn't pleasing at all to your sweet tooth. You like muddy sound with rubato all over like most conservatory pianists nowadays. You should check out ROBERTO SZIDON and his Scriabin Fantasy for the sonorities he is able to achieve is phenomenal as well.

Are you serious?

First, many people including me, have listened to Vladimir extensively and do not get much pleasure from it. Did someone claim he's no good? Must have missed that. He is good but I do not care for his playing much. Yet I definitely don't like a "muddy sound with excessive" rubato, quite the opposite.

But I definitely agree about Szidon

[alistaircrane4]

Are you serious?

First, many people including me, have listened to Vladimir extensively and do not get much pleasure from it. Did someone claim he's no good? Must have missed that. He is good but I do not care for his playing much. Yet I definitely don't like a "muddy sound with excessive" rubato, quite the opposite.

But I definitely agree about Szidon

Thank for clarifying this. For I did not say that he was no good I simply said that I did not care for his performances.

[alistaircrane4]

Because Horowitz isn't pleasing at all to your sweet tooth. You like muddy sound with rubato all over like most conservatory pianists nowadays. You should check out ROBERTO SZIDON and his Scriabin Fantasy for the sonorities he is able to achieve is phenomenal as well.

I think it is very arrogant and distasteful to not only misread my statements and then go so far as to presume that you think I like a "muddy sound with rubato all over." It shows your character very much so.