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Track(s) taken from CDA67131/2

Sonate-fantaisie in G sharp minor, Op posth.

composer
1886

Marc-André Hamelin (piano)
Recording details: June 1995
All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by Tony Faulkner
Release date: March 1996
Total duration: 7 minutes 25 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

Stephen Coombs (piano)

Reviews

‘He commands the four qualities that a Scriabin interpreter must have: a feverish intensity, a manic vision, a sovereign and fastidious command of the pedal, and a huge dynamic range’ (Gramophone)

‘Hamelin rises to the challenges of this music with complete mastery. But his is more than a purely technical triumph (though the effortless of his playing has to be heard to be believed)’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘This is one of the most significant Scriabin recordings of recent years, as well as another triumph for Hamelin, who reveals as much affinity for this Russian mystic as he has for Alkan, Godowsky, Ives, and Bolcom on earlier discs … Two more favorable elements must be noted: Hyperion's spacious and vivid recorded sound, and a really superb set of booklet notes by Simon Nicholls’ (American Record Guide)

‘Hamelin's playing enthralls the ear with its rounded, never-ugly tone, flickering fingerwork, and thunderous power. A sensational issue in every sense’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘Hamelin's playing has superb authority and presence, and when required the greatest delicacy too. His amazing technical skill is completely at the service of the music. This is a major release’ (Classic CD)

‘Hamelin's revelatory cycle of the Scriabin sonatas takes top honors rather easily … a vein that's rarely been mined—and never with such virtuoso perfection. The more you think you know about these scores, the more striking you're liable to find this set’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘Marc-André Hamelin is the most important interpreter of Scriabin's music to have come along in decades’ (Clavier)

‘Is it really twenty years since Marc-André Hamelin set down these famous recordings for Hyperion in a London church? The record company’s website lists some of the recommendations and awards it soon acquired, and some of the overwhelmingly favourable reviews it attracted. The centenary of the composer’s death might be a good moment to look back at this achievement and assess its current standing’ (MusicWeb International)» More

«Il a les doigts et la sensibilité, la clairvoyance aussi, qui lui permettent de trouver un lyrisme généreux» (Le Monde de la Musique, France)
The Sonate-Fantaisie in G sharp minor (1886), is a work which Scriabin never published. He wrote it at the age of fourteen and dedicated it to Natalya Sekerina, the sweetheart of his adolescence. The Sonata shows an astonishingly sure hand in the natural progression of one idea from another. A portentous introduction leads to a gentle, idyllic first movement highly reminiscent of Chopin in its flow of florid melody. This was the time in Scriabin’s life when he fell in love with Chopin’s music and would go to sleep with a volume of Chopin under his pillow. The opening Andante gives way to a rather more agitated sonata movement. The cadence theme, especially in its return where it is accompanied by simple chords rather than flowing accompaniment figures, has a touch of the mazurka about it—Scriabin wrote twenty-one mazurkas and three impromptus à la mazur between 1887 and 1903. The development section, with its broken tenths in the left hand and the polyphony in the treble, is most original and characteristic in its sonorities. The end artfully and subtly introduces a reminiscence, not of the opening bars, but of an ensuing idea from the introduction. Its chromaticism is also highly characteristic, and it is not surprising that it was this idea that the young composer chose to bring back.

from notes by Simon Nicholls © 1996

La Sonate-Fantaisie en sol dièse mineur (1886) est une composition que Scriabine ne publia jamais. Il composa cette sonate à l’âge de quatorze ans et la dédia à Natalya Sekerina, son amour d’adolescence. Cette sonate témoigne d’une maîtrise instrumentale surprenante dans la progression naturelle d’une idée à une autre. Une introduction pompeuse mène à un premier mouvement délicat et idyllique qui rappelle beaucoup Chopin par l’ornementation de son flot mélodique. C’était l’époque où Scriabine était tombé amoureux de la musique de Chopin et dormait avec un volume du compositeur sous son oreiller. L’Andante des premières mesures cède la place à un mouvement de sonate plus émotionnel. Le thème de cadence, en particulier dans sa répétition où il est accompagné de simples accords plutôt que d’un flot de motifs d’accompagnement, possède une touche de mazurka—Scriabine a composé vingt-et-une mazurkas et trois impromptus à la mazur entre 1887 et 1903. Avec ses dixièmes brisées de la main gauche et la polyphonie de ses aigus, la partie de développement est d’une grande originalité et possède des sonorités caractéristiques. Avec art et subtilité, la fin du morceau introduit une réminiscence non pas des premières mesures, mais plutôt d’une prolongation des idées de l’introduction. Le chromatisme de ce morceau est également très caractéristique et il n’est pas surprenant que le jeune compositeur ait précisément choisi de faire la répétition de cette idée-là.

extrait des notes rédigées par Simon Nicholls © 1996
Français: Alexandre Blanchard

Skrjabin Sonatenfantasie in gis-moll (1886) nie veröffentlicht hat. Sie entstand, als er vierzehn Jahre alt war und, ist Natalja Sekerina gewidmet, einer Jugendliebe. Die Sonate beweist mit ihrer natürlichen Fortsetzung einer Idee von der anderen eine erstaunlich sichere Hand. Eine ominöse Einleitung führt zu einem sanften, idyllischen ersten Satz, der mit seiner fließend figurierten Melodie stark an Chopin erinnert. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt in seinem Leben hatte sich Skrjabin stark für die Musik Chopins entflammt und selbst unter seinem Kopfkissen mußte eine Partitur von Chopin liegen, bevor er einschlafen konnte. Das einleitende Andante bereitet den Weg für einen eher lebhaften Sonatensatz. Das Kadenzthema, besonders bei seiner Rückkehr, wenn es eher von einfachen Akkorden als von fließenden Figuren begleitet wird, vermittelt ein Gefühl von Mazurka—Skrjabin schrieb zwischen 1887 und 1903 einundzwanzig Mazurken und drei Impromptus à la mazur. Der Durchführungsteil mit seinen gebrochenen Dezimen in der linken Hand und der Polyphonie im Diskant ist äußert originell und mit seinen Wohlklängen charakteristisch. Das Ende stellt geschickt eine Erinnerung nicht der Einleitungstakte, sondern einer Folgeidee aus der Einführung vor. Auch seine Chromatik ist höchst charakteristisch und es verwundet wenig, daß es diese Idee war, die der junge Komponist für eine Rückkehr gewählt hat.

aus dem Begleittext von Simon Nicholls © 1996
Deutsch: Meckie Hellary

Other albums featuring this work

Scriabin: The Early Scriabin
CDH55286 Piano albums for £8.00
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