scriabin's 5th sonata- totally brilliant!

[cziffra]

i have never heard music so ingenius and original! (except maybe for arvo part) i have this played by richter and i am mesmerised, a by the musical mind that produced and b the pianistic splendour that plays it, it's spectacular!

[Daevren]

Yes, I think Richters one if the best I have heard. But I never heard Sofronitzky play it.

The way it ends, its perfect.

[thracozaag]

i have never heard music so ingenius and original! (except maybe for arvo part) i have this played by richter and i am mesmerised, a by the musical mind that produced and b the pianistic splendour that plays it, it's spectacular!

 It's a helluva piece (written in a scant 4 days, if memory serves).  I would highly recommend the Sofronitsky (I believe from 1958) and Horowitz performances.  Richter plays it far too straight for my taste.

koji (STSD)

[chopiabin]

This has long been my favorite Scriabin sonata.

[blindmouth]

i really want to hear sofronitsky's interpretation of this piece. anyways, to write music of this calibur i think one would have to be completely out of touch with reality (i think scriabin was!)

i think his tenth sonata is his most creative (i think of it as his creation of life sonata as opposed to the insect or trill sonata.) nevertheless, the fifth is one of my top favs, along with the fourth and the masses and the sixth and the tenth. aight i cant pick.

i just wished that scriabin could of wrote a sonata as long as liszt's b minor.

[liszmaninopin]

You all must listen to Szidon's performance!

[thracozaag]

You all must listen to Szidon's performance!

 I have all of them; great playing, but I don't like his sound in general.

koji (STSD)

[Nightscape]

Do any of you like the 8th sonata?  I think it's the saddest and most enigmatic of them all.

[chopiabin]

The 8th evokes a garden bathed in purplish moonlight for me.

[liszmaninopin]

The 8th is very interesting-it's Thrac's favorite.  If anything, it evokes a dark, somewhat sad early morning feeling in me.  As if you went to sleep after a funeral, and woke up before dawn the next day.  Odd...

[thracozaag]

Do any of you like the 8th sonata?  I think it's the saddest and most enigmatic of them all.

 Indeed it is my favorite, despite it being nearly impossible to play.  I like Scriabin's own description of it representing the elements of earth, wind, fire, and water.

koji (STSD)

[DarkWind]

Ooh, I'm learning this piece at the moment. Amazing stuff. Thrac, I believe he wrote it in 6 days. Incredible piece.

[chopiabin]

I'm listening to the 8th right now, and I guess there's something ominous about the beginning, but much of it seems to be filled with life - like the fifth, very organic. I'm kind of synesthetic, and this piece just evokes lots of purples, blues, blacks, and grays, but it still feels very organic. Incidentally, the 5th sonata is mostly various shades of chartreuse, with some yellows and reds.

[thracozaag]

Ooh, I'm learning this piece at the moment. Amazing stuff. Thrac, I believe he wrote it in 6 days. Incredible piece.

 Glad to hear you're learning it..it's a blast to play.

koji (STSD)

[Nightscape]

It's nice to see people who enjoy the 8th as much as I do.  It also is my favorite one (or at least the one I listen to the most).  Although, I have never seen it performed in concert, or even programmed for a concert.  It also seems to me to be the most difficult sonata (I couldn't imagine having to memorize it!). I have Laredo's and Askenazy's recordings of this piece and I like Ruth Laredo's interpretation best.  Askenazy does make the introduction sound a bit clearer, but he seems to chop off the ends of the 'succession of fourths' figure which doesn't seem right to my ears.  Laredo's interpretation is more in spirit with the nature of the piece.  I just love the way it begins- with the mysterious, omninous chords.  It's also a fun piece to sing along with- it has a very elongated, lyrical melodic line.  

[thracozaag]

It's nice to see people who enjoy the 8th as much as I do.  It also is my favorite one (or at least the one I listen to the most).  Although, I have never seen it performed in concert, or even programmed for a concert.  It also seems to me to be the most difficult sonata (I couldn't imagine having to memorize it!). I have Laredo's and Askenazy's recordings of this piece and I like Ruth Laredo's interpretation best.  Askenazy does make the introduction sound a bit clearer, but he seems to chop off the ends of the 'succession of fourths' figure which doesn't seem right to my ears.  Laredo's interpretation is more in spirit with the nature of the piece.  I just love the way it begins- with the mysterious, omninous chords.  It's also a fun piece to sing along with- it has a very elongated, lyrical melodic line.  

One fateful day a couple of years ago, David Dubal sadistically made me play it three times in the span of five hours.  Sofronitsky reigns supreme in this work, his live performance is one of the greatest Scriabin renditions period.

koji (STSD)