Volodos plays scriabin sonata no.7

[hodi]

i have just heard recording (it's live recorded and its quality is excellent)
so far i think it's the best performance of this sonata i have ever heard, better than hamelin for sure...
so volodos shows that he can play deep music as well, and not just encores.. what do you think of him, and this recording if u heard it?
i think he wastes too much time on encores...

[sevencircles]

Would love to hear it

I agree that his performed repertoire so far  is not my cup of tea with a few exceptions.

When will the recording be released?

[hodi]

actually i don't think it will ever be released but i don't know
recorded in Amsterdam Apr 13 2003...

[sevencircles]

actually i don't think it will ever be released but i don't know

Can you upload it please, or?

[mephisto]

I think Volodos is a great pianist, as in one of the best living pianist. He has a great technic, but more importanty his phrasing and sound is just amazing.

At first I thought he was just a show-off, but after hearing him play Scriabin and Beethoven he has revealed himself as an amazing interpreter as well. And his encores kick-ass too

I will post his recording of the Scriabin Sonata No.7, since I belive that the recording isn't copyrighted or anything by anyone, and is just taken from a radio-broadcast.

https://www.mediafire.com/?0oqn5cdaj94

[franzliszt2]

i have just heard recording (it's live recorded and its quality is excellent)
so far i think it's the best performance of this sonata i have ever heard, better than hamelin for sure...
so volodos shows that he can play deep music as well, and not just encores.. what do you think of him, and this recording if u heard it?
i think he wastes too much time on encores...

wow Hamelin is really the one to beat when interpreting Scriabin!!!

[hodi]

wow Hamelin is really the one to beat when interpreting Scriabin!!!

he is really an expert on the first five sonatas.
just hear the ending of the 4th sonata, or the 3rd movement of the 1st sonata (he is the only pianist that can play it well i think)
and his  5th is excellent!
his 7th is OK, but he ruins the ending
overall he is a great scriabin interpeter IMO

[franzliszt2]

why?

[mephisto]

You have something against Hamelin all of a sudden!?

[franzliszt2]

I've never liked his playing!! Theres something missing from it. His tone isn't great. He only plays fast, and why do people go on so much about his technique?? so what he's played the warhorses, but thats not technique. Technique is about sound etc..speed is just a part of it.

[mephisto]

Even people with phd's in Scriabin(I am not kidding, it is possiblke to get such a thing) consider Hamelin's Scriabin to be first rate. And even more importantly---this guy:

He knows a lot about Scriabin and has only fine words about MAH. I am personally very touched by Scriabin's music when played by MAH, and I can hear that he has a lot of a love for that kind of music when he plays it.

[franzliszt2]

wow a phd??    didn't know they existed!

More importantly this guy? No disrespect, but I'm sure that one good pianist doesn't cancel out many. I could name equal if not imo greater scriabin interpreters who disagree with you on MAH

[mephisto]

I ment a phd in Scriabin. That is rarer.

Ok so name one(1) pianist known for his Scriabin who could say one bad word about Hamelin's Scriabin(on a hole, not just on one piece).

And you have yet said one bad thing about Hamelin's Scriabin yet.

[franzliszt2]

1 pianist who dislikes Hamelin...my teacher. A lot of pianists I am good friends with. I know that some of them were accepted into Juliard and Curtis, so if that means anything to you (I notice that gains respect here) they are great pianists and not crappy amatures who don't even understand Scriabins music.  A past winner of the international Scriabin competition agress with me strongly.

I dislike most of Hamelins playing (if not all of it). I find there is something HUGe missing. His tone is just not varied enough for Scriabins music. It's harsh, and lacks the sheer amount of colour needed. I don't find them interesting enough to listen to. Yet how come when I listen to say Richter or Horowitz fir example I am totally amazed. Also the person who won the Scriabin competition I mentioned is absolutely astounding.

[elevateme_returns]

also my teacher dislikes hamelin. and he works with him. he says his sound is not there, which takes away the real difficulties in the pieces he plays

[elevateme_returns]

gordon fergus thompson's scriabin is good

[gruffalo]

gordon fergus thompson's scriabin is good

i agree.

[franzliszt2]

i agree.

I also agree. I like his playing of Scriabin

[mephisto]

Ok so name one(1) pianist known for his Scriabin who could say one bad word about Hamelin's Scriabin.

[franzliszt2]

Gordon Fergus Thompson

[mephisto]

Tell me what he said about Hamelin's Scriabin.

[invictious]

Great find, but I still like Hamelin's more.

[franzliszt2]

That it's dull. It's all to much on the surface. Nothing deep about it. Thats not what he said to me, he said it to a pupil of his, who is a very good friend of mine. Hamelins playing is always like that, very good, yet something missing. You can't dislike it in a way you'll dislike a bad pianist playing, but you still dislike it. Hamelins playing is always perfect, always there, but never has me sitting up. Even his Godowsky etudes, it's all just "yeh, heres a difficult piece, look, it's perfect" It's not deep. It's certainly not spiritual. Scriabin was always in search of something outside the piano. It was never about sound for the sake of sound, it was about sound to make the listener seriously feel it. Vers la flamme played well is horrifying! It's frightening. Opening of 5th sonata, played well also nakes you feel someting, all his music does. Even that C# minor etude that everyman and his dog plays badly. That played well makes the listener stop listening and fills them with this image and feeling of Russia. Hamelin does not achive that depth. Come to think of it, the only people that have made me persob#nally feel that deeply touched by Scriabins music are Russian. It's strange, I can't explain it.

[imbetter]

this is supposed to be about volodos's scriabin not hamelins

[rob47]

loll so sorry for bumping an ancient topic; it's hilarious the way it turns into this threadjack hamelin debate, and then imbetter reminds people what the thread is about and boom, thread dies.

ehhh i found that hilarious.

on topic i was blown away by volodos' interpretation, which is now on youtube or was last time i checked.

on off topic i don't much care for hamelin's scriabin 7; i like igor zhukov the best even though it's ridiculously slow

[retrouvailles]

I actually really enjoy Hamelin's, but, like most other Scriabin sonatas, you can't just listen to one. They are all going to have problems for the most discerning pianists, such as us. For example, the biggest flaw against Hamelin's is the typical Hyperion dull recording quality (not just evident in Hamelin, but in other Hyperion artists) and that he sometimes glosses over some parts. I like Volodos sometimes also, and I've heard his late Scriabin, and it shows a sensitive musician at work. I wouldn't call it my favorite, but I would listen to it again.

Let's keep this thread going!

[minor9th]

I think Volodos is a great pianist, as in one of the best living pianist. He has a great technic, but more importanty his phrasing and sound is just amazing.

At first I thought he was just a show-off, but after hearing him play Scriabin and Beethoven he has revealed himself as an amazing interpreter as well. And his encores kick-ass too

I will post his recording of the Scriabin Sonata No.7, since I belive that the recording isn't copyrighted or anything by anyone, and is just taken from a radio-broadcast.

https://www.mediafire.com/?0oqn5cdaj94

That link is no longer valid--could you please re-upload the file? Thank you.

[omar_roy]

Am I the only one that likes Sofronitsky and Ashkenazy for Scriabin?

[retrouvailles]

There are plenty of people that do, but I personally don't, mostly for technical issues. Sofronitsky's recordings have atrocious sound quality, and I need to actually be able to enjoy a recording to, well, enjoy it. I don't have much of an opinion on Ashkenazy's Scriabin. I heard a nice live recording of him, but his studio recordings of it do nothing for me. Also, his studio recordings often feature a piano that is too bright. For what reason, I don't know. Yes, I'm difficult.