Scriabin Sonatas, Vers la Flamme

[Nu-Steinway-Player]

Has anyone played any of these?  They're insanely difficult, all of them; and tough on the audience especially, except maybe numbers 2 and 4, with number 5 being played to death at competitions.  I'm interested to know their popularity with people on this board.

[thracozaag]

  For me the hardest by far were 6, 7, and 8 (with 8 being damn near impossible).  9 and 10 aren't easy, but are far less awkward to play than those. The last movement of #3 is extremely tough, as is the 2nd movement of #4.  5 is fun to play once you get it.  #1 is quite difficult, especially the 1st movement, and I have yet to play #2.  Vers le Flamme I would put in the category of difficulty along the lines of Sonatas 9 and 10, perhaps even a little bit easier to manage.

koji (STSD)

[op.109]

If you were going to perform one of the last 5 sonatas for a competition, which would you pick?

[alhimia]

I´ve played the third son ata many times and don´t consider the last movement as very tough, once you get it, you fly away with it ... I think the first movement is the hardest, mainly because of the structure, it also requires a very flexibel octave technique.
In general I think the last sonatas are the hardest to play, especially nr. 7 and 8.

Alhimia

[quixoticcafe]

I have never played Vers la Flamme, but back in university days this piece was like "it". Those who played the work felt as if they had "arrived." Nevertheless, even those of us who never played it were always surrounded by so many gay pianist "flamers" that in essence we were already sitting "Vers la Flamme" in studio class.

[thracozaag]

I´ve played the third son ata many times and don´t consider the last movement as very tough, once you get it, you fly away with it ... I think the first movement is the hardest, mainly because of the structure, it also requires a very flexibel octave technique.
In general I think the last sonatas are the hardest to play, especially nr. 7 and 8.

Alhimia

  NOt that I doubt your claims regarding the last movement of the 3rd sonata, but almost every performance I hear of this, the pianist fakes the left hand.

koji (STSD)

[thracozaag]

If you were going to perform one of the last 5 sonatas for a competition, which would you pick?

  Unfortunately, although I think #7 would be the most effective, most jurists at competitions have a pitifullly small knowledge of repertoire, so you'd probably be best off playing the 9th.

koji (STSD)

[op.109]

You have a point, but I wonder why wouldn't they pick judges with an encyclopedic knowledge of the repertoire?

I so badly want to master one of these late sonatas-they strike me as the kind of pieces that would be quite magical to perform.  I would love to do the 8th, but your tales of its difficulty are making me consider looking elsewhere, as it's definitely not a piece I'd want to perform poorly.

[verwel]

 
  NOt that I doubt your claims regarding the last movement of the 3rd sonata, but almost every performance I hear of this, the pianist fakes the left hand.

koji (STSD)

Sadly, this is quite right, even Kissin can't handle it at all....
Glenn Gould can however!!
I agree with the comments made by Thracozaag on the whole. But think, if you want to play Scriabin, you should first study the score very carefully, reading these scores is the hardest part. And also, I really think it helps if you work you way up his sonatas, starting with the first one etc....
Being Belgian, I have heard, for many times yet, the later stadium of the queen elizabeth international piano competition: sonatas 5 and 9 are the most popular ones, I heard the seventh once...
And remember, Scriabin himself was an awesome pianist!

[thracozaag]

You have a point, but I wonder why wouldn't they pick judges with an encyclopedic knowledge of the repertoire?

I so badly want to master one of these late sonatas-they strike me as the kind of pieces that would be quite magical to perform.  I would love to do the 8th, but your tales of its difficulty are making me consider looking elsewhere, as it's definitely not a piece I'd want to perform poorly.

  I'm afraid judges are rarely picked on such merits.  If you haven't done any Scriabin sonatas, I would probably urge you to start with either #2 or possibly #3.  If you haven't done any late sonatas, I would advise starting with #9 or #10 and work your way up to #8.  #8 is probably my favourite sonata despite its difficulties.

koji (STSD)

[thracozaag]

Sadly, this is quite right, even Kissin can't handle it at all....
Glenn Gould can however!!
I agree with the comments made by Thracozaag on the whole. But think, if you want to play Scriabin, you should first study the score very carefully, reading these scores is the hardest part. And also, I really think it helps if you work you way up his sonatas, starting with the first one etc....
Being Belgian, I have heard, for many times yet, the later stadium of the queen elizabeth international piano competition: sonatas 5 and 9 are the most popular ones, I heard the seventh once...
And remember, Scriabin himself was an awesome pianist!

  Gould's performance I was surprised by; it's actually extremely good, he's got a real wonderful affinity for bringing out Scriabin's complex and wonderful counterpoint (although I suppose that should come as no surprise considering it's Gould).  Sofronitsky is still my favourite for that sonata, though.  And yes, from the recordings rolls I heard (which are traditionally unreliable, but oh well) Scriabin was a fabulous pianist with a very special sense of rhythm and pedalling.

koji (STSD)