Trifonov and Gergiev pay golden tribute to Russia’s Silver Age.

Scriabin’s wife Tatiana wrote in a 1907 letter that his Piano Sonata No 5 was “extraordinary”. The same can be said of Stephen Hough’s rendition in new release Scriabin & Janácˇek: Sonatas & Poems. Hough opens the album with this musical concoction of chaos and bliss, exhibiting power through his overtly expressive and dynamic performance, before progressing to Janácˇek’s cycle On the Overgrown Path. Though a comparatively delicate work, Hough’s presence isn’t diminished. His performance of A Blown-away Leaf (Book 1, No 2) is a sentimental caress, later offset by a startlingly intense The Frydek Madonna (Book 1, No 4). Scriabin soon returns with a jolt in his Deux Poèmes, Op. 32 – a musical contrast in fine taste which is felt throughout the release as the two composers’ works are interwoven. In fact the differences between Scriabin and Janácˇek grow fainter as the album progresses, with Hough’s musical approach and impeccable performance creating a sense of unity between them. Janácˇek’s Piano Sonata 1.X.1905 is a highlight and, well placed in the latter part of the album, it reveals Hough’s brooding dramaticism, preparing him for a final joyous release in the concluding Piano Sonata No 4 in F Sharp by Scriabin. Stephen Hough…

Throughout his long pianistic career, Vladimir Ashkenazy has made celebrated recordings of the music of Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915). Most notable are those of the Piano Concerto and Prometheus (with Maazel), plus his recording of the Piano Sonatas. All date from the 1980s or earlier. This new recital, made up of sets of etudes, mazurkas, poémes and various other groups of short pieces, was recorded as recently as December 2014. The works span the short-lived composer’s entire career. Although Ashkenazy is still in good shape, I find him too heavy-handed in this repertoire. The early works are modelled on Chopin and require polish, while the harmonically diffuse and mysterious late works need delicacy, which they certainly get from Horowitz or Sofronitsky. Ashkenazy shines when Scriabin comes closest to his contemporary Rachmaninov, as in the Eight Etudes, Opus 42. Barnstorming does not seem out of place here. The pianist is clearly engaged in the few miniatures that are specifically pictorial, such as the depiction of birds in the second of the Three Pieces, Opus 45. The late Vers la Flamme, in its harmonic restlessness and improvisatory form, sounds uncannily like modern jazz (no surprise that Bill Evans played Scriabin for practice). Ashkenazy…

From Scriabin to Chopin, Wang dazzles with poetry, musicianship and bags of ‘wow’ factor.

Hoang Pham is a young pianist of Vietnamese background who studied in Australia and subsequently the US. He now has an international career, appearing frequently in America and Europe. In 2013 he gave a series of recitals in Melbourne, one of which is preserved in this live recording.  Pham’s program is formidable: Beethoven’s Pathétique, Scriabin’s Poème and Sonata No 9 (Black Mass), Bach’s Partita No 2 and, last but not least, Liszt’s Petrarch Sonnet and Dante Sonata from the Second Year of Pilgrimage (Italy).  At first I thought one of the less often played Beethoven sonatas would have been a smarter choice, however, this is a fresh and first-rate performance of the Pathétique. The drama of the first movement is well paced, the cantabile of the second movement affecting, and the finale exhilarating. The contrasting works by Scriabin are possibly the highlight of the recital. Pham presents the composer’s rigorous, highly chromatic late Sonata with great clarity of line.  He is clearly a pianist who relishes the Romantic tradition, once again emphasising the lyrical side of Liszt’s Petrarch Sonnet (a piano transcription of an earlier song) and plunging fearlessly into the pianistic rhetoric of the Dante Sonata. If this piece…

Unlike some of today’s prodigies, Rusian pianist Daniil Trifonov (b. 1992) shows every sign of artistic maturity in this live recital, given at New York’s Carnegie Hall in February 2013, where he made his American debut in 2009, aged 18. Two years ago he recorded a Chopin disc for Decca, but this live recital truly puts him on the world stage and signifies a distinguished career ahead. Trifonov’s program comprises the Liszt B Minor Sonata, Scriabin’s Second Piano Sonata, Chopin’s 24 Preludes Op 28 and a short piece by Medtner. The contents of that program suggest his great Soviet predecessor, Sviatoslav Richter. Trifonov does not approach Richter in sheer power and concentration – who ever could? – yet he has more to offer than merely spectacular technique. Subtle and affecting at the soft end of the dynamic spectrum, Trifonov also understands “the demonic element” (as his champion Martha Argerich put it).  His Liszt Sonata is truly grounded. Last year I was impressed by Khatia Buniatshvili’s recording, which fizzed with edgy energy, but Trifonov’s less volatile but no less expressive approach properly anchors the work. His lyrical gift is evident in the way he coaxes the chorale theme out of the depths…