Scriabin 12 Etudes op.8 : Information needed

[jgendron]

Hi, fellow pianists.
I have this little fantasy of playing and recording the twelve op.8 Scriabin's Etudes. I already have a few that would be ready. I don't want to share my recording, I only want to do it for myself yet and be able to play the whole set in concert some time, if ever possible. I know Scriabin's etudes are hard, but I think I'll be able to manage quite well. What I'm looking for is information about the twelve etudes.

I've been searching for a long time, and I haven't found anything that interesting yet. Yes, I've done a Google search and looked at a few books and listened to a lot of recordings, read a lot about the pieces in different editions, but I was wondering if you guys knew of any vital information about those etudes. There might be interesting facts to know about them. I've already read "An analysis of textures in selected piano etudes of Chopin and Scriabin" and it was very helpful, but I'm just curious : Do you guys have any information to share about them ? Books you would recommend ? Even a documentary or a legendary recording ?

Thanks for you help,
J.Gendron.

[pianoguy711]

Another Scriabin fan.  I'm working on Op8 no 5 now and some of his preludes from op11.  Kind of funny but I also came across and read "An analysis of textures in selected piano etudes of Chopin and Scriabin".  There are not too many well produced documentaries on him sadly, unlike Chopin, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky.  There is one that is supposed to be good called "Scriabin: Toward the Light" but I can't find it online.  (If you do let me know!).

As for legendary recordings you should check out Sofronitsky https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-ehSS3bhB0. 

Playing all 12 etudes is going to be rough! no 12 alone is a monster.

[visitor]

Agreed that Sofonitsky is the definitive Scriabin interpreter. My only other vote for a more modern performer would be Volodos.

As for the info OP requests, probably has not gotten many responses as it's a big vague, not sure what you're asking for.

I had this thing laying around, been meaning to post it to my scribd account, I'll probably get around to it sometime, in the meantime, here ya go, not sure if what you're asking for, but it's an interesting little read.

[jgendron]

Thank you so much for the replies.
Thanks for recommending Sofronitsky, pianoguy711. I'll let you know if I ever find "Scriabin : Toward the light". I'm lucky enough to have worked on op.8 no.12 already It's not an easy piece, that's true hehe. But yet so beautiful. I think 8/5 is one of my favourite, if not my favourite so far. Beautiful and still challenging enough to keep me interested in practicing it.

Visitor, what you shared is exactly what I'm looking for ; any information that could be of use to understand Scriabin's Etudes deeply before recording them.

Thanks again.
I'll try to share with you a few excerpts when I'll be done recording some of the etudes.
JGendron.

[pytheamateur]

Read this book:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/La-musique-piano-Guy-Sacre/dp/2221085663/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1400278558&sr=8-3&keywords=guy+sacre+piano

Biography of Scriabin, pp2616-2618.
12 Etudes op.8, pp2634-2637.

It is better than Maurice Hinson's Guide to the Pianist's Repertoire.

[coherence]

Wow, thanks for the pointer to "An analysis of texture..." That's really something.(https://etd.ohiolink.edu/rws_etd/document/get/osu1094828983/inline for anyone who can't be bothered to Google.)