Scriabin: Late Piano Pieces

“In his excellent sleeve note Paul Crossley suggests that Scriabin’s late piano pieces are more successful than several of the late sonatas because of their perfection of style and consistency. This disc certainly offers persuasive support for this view. Crossley catches the haunting and elusive character of this music and also conveys its many moods, from the radiant to the dark and obsessive. I particular admired the Feuillet d’album Op. 58 and the Poeme-Nocturne Op. 61, but I was also convinced by his demonstration that Scriabin’s pairs of pieces belong together, and that the Deux Poemes Op. 71 amount to a reworking of the fourth sonata in Scriabin’s later style. ALthough Crossley is a poetic rather than a transcendental pianist, he is capable of the virtuosity these pieces demand; I could not believe he could play the manic Presto which is Op. 67 No. 2 at the speed he does, let alone hold it together musically. All in all, a superb disc.”- Stephan Barber

Quatre Morceaux, Op. 51 (1906)
1. Fragilité
2. Prélude
3. Poème ailé
4. Danse languide

Trois Morceaux, Op. 52 (1907)
5. Poème
6. Enigme
7. Poème languide

Deux Morceaux, Op. 57 (1908)
8. Désir
9. Caresse dansée

10. Feuillet d’ album, Op. 58 (1910)

Deux Pièces, Op. 59 (1910)
11. Poème
12. Prélude

13. Poème-Nocturne, Op. 61 (1911-12)

Deux Poèmes, Op. 63 (1911-12)
14. Masque
15. Etrangeté

Deux Préludes, Op. 67 (1912-13)
16. Andante
17. Presto

Deux Poèmes, Op. 69 (1912-13)
18. Allegretto
19. Allegretto

Deux Poèmes, Op. 71 (1912-13)
20. Fantastique
21. En revant, avec une grande douceur

22. Vers la Flamme, poème, Op. 72 (1914)

Deux Danses, Op. 73 (1914)
23. Guirlandes
24. Flammes Sombres

Cinq Préludes, Op. 74 (1914)
25. Douloureux déchirant
26. Très lent, contemplatif
27. Allegro drammatico
28. Lent, vague, indécis
29. Fier, belliqueux

ArtistPaul Crossley
Reviews"Sciabin's late piano pieces remain among the most revolutionary ever written for the instrument. These Morceaux, Poèmes, Danses and Préludes certainly call for a player of unusual insight… with the requisite technical command to give substance to the insubstantial. In all this Crossley succeeds admirably...". BBC Music Magazine "Virtuoso ease and well modulated, evenly balanced sonorities have always marked Paul Crossley's way with repertoire that fuses thorny and sensual elements". Gramophone
Shopping Cart