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Track(s) taken from CDA67988

Deux poèmes, Op 32

composer
1903

Garrick Ohlsson (piano)
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Recording details: December 2013
Henry Wood Hall, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by David Hinitt
Release date: February 2015
Total duration: 5 minutes 1 seconds

Cover artwork: The Cloud (1902) by Arthur Hacker (1858-1919)
© Bradford Art Galleries and Museums, West Yorkshire / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘Today [Scriabin] enjoys a near classic status and Garrick Ohlsson’s disc of the complete Poèmes provides ample food for thought … his playing now reflects rich experience and musical quality … his empathy with so many fragmented dreamscapes is lucid and sensitive’ (Gramophone)

‘Scriabin's microcosmic soundworlds, powered by chains of augmented and chromatically liquefied harmonies, require a transcendental technique and the ability to conjure up simultaneously myriad differentiated sounds and textures. Ohlsson possesses remarkable facility … unleashes immense reserves of power … has the required delicacy of touch’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More
PERFORMANCE
RECORDING

‘Effortless virtuosity and total musical command’ (The Guardian)» More

‘Ohlsson plays with appropriate accuracy and wide gradations of touch. He uses the sustaining pedal sparingly and the damper to best effect where the phrasing calls for a firm staccato. His rhythmic control is excellent …’ (Audiophile Audition, USA)

‘Ohlsson, the pianistic prestidigitator, pulls it off again; a fine start to this centenary year’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘Ohlsson need fear no comparisons. He has the technique for this music and sounds entirely in sympathy with it’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘Ohlsson brings to these performances a clarity and level-headedness that perfectly complements the intoxicating power of Scriabin's music, and his exceptionally wide reach means that none of the technical demands are beyond his capability’ (The Europadisc Review)» More

‘Alexander Scriabin produced a steady torrent of miniatures between writing monumental pieces. American pianist Garrick Ohlsson gives an insight into the composer’s inner world in scintillating accounts of these varied Poèmes which were written over more than a decade’ (The Northern Echo)

«Grâce au pianiste américain, on entre à pas feutrés dans l'univers des Poèmes de Scriabine. La dimension fantastique et littéraire prend forme doucement dans un son rond et épais. Comme si par les couleurs de son Steinway, Garrick Ohlsson cherchait les diffractions lumineuses des poèmes orchestraux» (Classica, France)» More

„Ohlsson wird auch nie sentimental, versucht nicht, die Musik programmlich auszudeuten, wovor Scriabins erster Biograph, der Komponist und Schriftsteller Evgeny Gunst ja ausdrücklich gewarnt hat … alles in allem kann man schlussfolgern: so soll Scriabin klingen!“ (Pizzicato, Luxembourg)» More

„Garrick Ohlsson is an ideal interpreter of Scriabin’s music. With rather quick tempi, an unfailing sense for nuances and contrasts he always suggests that Scriabin was not a dreamer but a man living on the end of his nerves“ (Pizzicato, Luxembourg)

„Wenn man die Poèmes … einzeln oder paarweise hört, dann erkennt man, welch grandioser Interpret Ohlsson für diese Werke ist“ (Piano News, Germany)» More
PERFORMANCE
RECORDING
The Deux poèmes of Op 32 (1903) are counterparts, the first introverted and dreamily passionate, the second outgoing and challenging, reflecting Scriabin’s increasing concern with the concept of self-assertion—the archaic, solemn expression Ya yesm’ (‘I am’) occurs early in a notebook of 1904–5 and is symbolized in the beginning of Le divin poème. In these pieces, as is often the case, the markings are highly individual. The middle section of No 1 is marked with a coined word, inaferando, which Valentina Rubtsova suggests the composer derived from inafferrabile, meaning ‘lightly touching’ or ‘imperceptible’; Scriabin was famous for the delicacy and tonal subtlety of his piano playing. No 2 is headed Allegro, con eleganza, con fiducia, the final part meaning ‘with faith’—that is, faith in oneself.

from notes by Simon Nicholls © 2015

Les Deux poèmes op.32 (1903) sont des pendants: le premier est introverti, rêveusement passionné, quand le second, extraverti et stimulant, reflète l’intérêt croissant de Scriabine pour le concept de confiance en soi—l’archaïque expression solennelle Ya yesm’ («Je suis») apparaît tôt, dans un carnet de 1904–5, et s’incarne symboliquement dans le début du Divin poème. Comme souvent dans ces pièces, les indications sont très singulières. La section centrale du nº 1 porte ainsi un mot forgé, inaferando, que Scriabine pourrait avoir tiré, comme le suggère Valentina Rubtsova, d’inafferrabile qui veut dire «au toucher léger», «imperceptible»—il était célèbre pour la délicatesse et la subtilité sonore de son jeu pianistique. Le nº 2 s’intitule Allegro, con eleganza, con fiducia, ces derniers mots signifiant «avec confiance»—confiance en soi s’entend.

extrait des notes rédigées par Simon Nicholls © 2015
Français: Hypérion

Die Deux poèmes op. 32 (1903) sind gegensätzlich angelegt, das erste introvertiert und träumerisch-leidenschaftlich und das zweite extravertiert und herausfordernd, was Skrjabins zunehmende Beschäftigung mit dem Konzept der Selbstbehauptung widerspiegelt—der archaische, feierliche Ausdruck Ya yesm’ („Ich bin“) findet sich zu Beginn eines Notizbuchs von 1904/5 und wird am Anfang von Le divin poème symbolisch angedeutet. Wie so oft sind auch in diesen Stücken die Anweisungen sehr individuell. Der Mittelteil von Nr. 1 ist mit einem neugeschöpften Wort, inaferando, überschrieben, was Valentina Rubtsova zufolge von inafferrabile herzuleiten ist, was „leicht berührend“ oder „kaum fassbar“ bedeutet. Skrjabin war für sein sanftes und tonal subtiles Klavierspiel berühmt. Nr. 2 trägt die Überschrift Allegro, con eleganza, con fiducia; die letzten beiden Worte bedeuten „mit Zuversicht“; gemeint ist dabei „Selbstzuversicht“.

aus dem Begleittext von Simon Nicholls © 2015
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

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