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Track(s) taken from CDA67057/8

Quatre préludes, Op 48

composer
1905

Piers Lane (piano)
Recording details: June 2000
Henry Wood Hall, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Amanda Hurton
Engineered by Tony Faulkner
Release date: February 2001
Total duration: 3 minutes 51 seconds

Cover artwork: Halos (1894) by Louis Welden Hawkins (1849-1910)
 

Reviews

‘Everything about this two-disc set is ideal. Few pianists could show more sympathy and affection for such volatile romanticism, or display greater stylistic consistency. This new set of the Preludes should be in any serious record collection’ (Gramophone)

‘Lane certainly knows how to tease out the music's textural subtleties; his emotional commitment is undeniable, as is his grasp of the poetic/virtuosic dichotomy inherent in Scriabin's music’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Lane is the perfect guide to Scriabin’s shimmering miniature masterpieces’ (The Independent)

‘To find contemporary performances that convey … aspects of the music more vividly and with greater sympathy, as well as with a good deal more technical refinement, one need look no further than Piers Lane’s recent traversal’ (International Record Review)

‘Lane's technical brilliance and assurance captures the most elusive qualities of this music, as one dream-vision dissolves into another … [his] control and balance of their veiled sonorities is wonder-filled’ (The Times)

‘Piers Lane is easily the master of all this … you get the sense this music is in his blood. The preludes have been well worth waiting for’ (Amazon.co.uk)

‘Lane's flawless finger and inspired brain are totally attuned to Scriabin's hyper-expressive sound world. Gorgeous, flattering sonics help elevate this recording to reference version status among complete Scriabin cycles. Bravo!’ (Classics Today)
The four preludes Op 48 (1905) were written about the time that work began on the Poem of Ecstasy, and the harmonic language has advanced considerably – so much so that the tonal endings come as something of a surprise. The marking at the head of each prelude is colourfully suggestive: ‘Impetuously, haughtily; poetically, with delight; capriciously, breathlessly; festively’. The snatched, hopping basses and impulsive rhythms and harmonic shifts of No 1 will become familiar in the later music. ‘Con delizio’, the marking of No 2, was to be associated with the unveiling of the ‘Mystic Chord’ in the Fifth Sonata of 1907: here, as there, the mood is rapt and transcendent. The downward twisting chromaticisms of No 3 contribute to its atmosphere of ‘breathless caprice’ and to a strange, Mephistophelian mocking character to be found elsewhere: in the ‘Enigme’ Op 52 No 2, ‘Ironies’ Op 56 No 2 or the Poème Op 69 No 2. No 4 reveals a Nietzschean mood of self-assertion at its most blatant.

from notes by Simon Nicholls © 2001

Les quatre préludes de l’opus 48 (1905) furent écrits à l’époque où débutait la composition du Poème de l’extase. Le langage harmonique a considérablement évolué – au point que les conclusions tonales sont perçues comme autant de surprises. Les annotations agogiques en tête de chaque prélude sont colorées et suggestives «impétueux fier; poétique, avec délice; capricieusement haletant; festivement». Les basses heurtées en grandes enjambées ainsi que les brusques déplacements harmoniques et rythmiques du no1 deviendront des éléments familiers de son style à venir. L’indication «Con delizio» du no2 sera associée à la révélation de «l’accord mystique» de la Sonate no5 écrite en 1907: dans les deux cas, on retrouve une atmosphère de félicité et de transcendance. Les chromatismes sinueux et descendants du no3 contribuent à son atmosphère de «capricciosamente affannato» et à son caractère étrange, méphistophélique et moqueur que l’on retrouve ailleurs, dans l’Enigme, opus 52 no2, Ironies, opus 56 no2 ou du Poème, opus 69 no2. Le no4 révèle un tempérament nietzschéen où l’affirmation de soi est des plus assurées.

extrait des notes rédigées par Simon Nicholls © 2001
Français: Isabelle Battioni

Die vier Préludes op. 48 (1905) wurden um die Zeit geschrieben, als die Arbeit am Poème de l’Extase begann, und die harmonische Sprache hat sich erheblich weiterentwickelt – so weit, daß die tonalen Abschlüsse für Überraschung sorgen. Die Angaben am Anfang jedes Préludes sind anschaulich suggestiv: „ungestüm, hoch­mütig; poetisch, freudig; kapriziös, atemlos; festlich.“ Die unvermittelt hüpfenden Bässe, impulsiven Rhythmen und harmonischen Wechsel von Nr. 1 werden in späteren Kompositionen zur vertrauten Erscheinung. „Con delizio“, die Bezeichnung von Nr. 2, sollte mit der Entschleierung des „mystischen Akkords“ in der Fünften Sonate von 1907 einhergehen; hier wie dort ist die Stimmung verzückt und transzendent. Die sich abwärts schlingenden chromatischen Töne von Nr. 3 tragen zur Atmosphäre „atemloser Kaprice“ und zu einem seltsam mephistophelisch spottenden Charakter bei, der auch anderswo zu finden ist: im „Enigme“ op. 52 Nr. 2, „Ironies“ op. 56 Nr. 2 beziehungsweise im Poème op. 69 Nr. 2. Nr. 4 zeichnet sich aus durch in höchstem Maß unverfrorene Selbstbehauptung im Sinne Nietzsches.

aus dem Begleittext von Simon Nicholls © 2001
Deutsch: Anne Steeb/Bernd Müller

Other albums featuring this work

Scriabin: The Complete Préludes, Vol. 2
CDH55451
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