How liberal can you be with tempo when playing Scriabin?

[lelle]

Hello!
I'm wondering if you fellow pianists on pianostreet have any ideas on or know any commonly established guidelines on how liberal you can be with tempo when playing Scriabin?

I analyzed a recording of the 2nd movement of Scriabins sonata 2 op 19 performed by Richter and i found that he changes around the tempo quite a lot. The tempo indication in the score for this movement is half note = 96-100. Richter starts out in about half note = 120, then changes between 100, 110 and even slower tempi for different sections, and even uses different tempi for different entries of the same thematic material. Sometimes he draws out many quarter note triplets to the same length as "normal" quarter notes within the same section, and the slowest tempo he has for a section of the piece is half note = 75 (quite a difference between that and his starting tempo, eh?). I've heard that Scriabin was bad at feeling tempo himself and that might account for him writing sections that "sound better" if played in a different tempo.

What I'm wondering is how this practise of changing tempo with such an amount is viewed by other pianists? Many recordings of Scriabin pieces move around the tempo quite a bit but I'm wondering what the general consensus on this practise is?

Here is the recording I'm talking about, by the way:

[iumonito]

Absolutely.  The pulse in Scriabin is as variable as your heartbeat.