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.
Topic: Volodos plays scriabin sonata no.7