Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
The Poem of Ecstasy, Op 54 (1907)
Piano Sonata No 5 in F-sharp major, Op 53 (1907)
Prometheus, The Poem of Fire, Op 60 (1909/10)
Yevgeny Sudbin (piano), Singapore Symphony Chorus, Singapore Symphony Youth Choir, Singapore Symphony Orchestra/Lan Shui
rec. 2017, Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore; 2006, Västerås Concert Hall, Sweden (Sonata)
BIS BIS-2362 SACD [56]
Each of the three works on this new release from the BIS label date from Scriabin’s last compositional period. The Poem of Ecstasy and the Fifth Piano Sonata are contemporaneous, dating from 1907. Prometheus was written two years later. Each of the compositions reveal a bold and radical composer, as he’s described by Andrew Huth in his accompanying liner notes. By the time these works were penned, Scriabin’s music had become “more chromatic, fragmentary and rhythmically complex”.
Occasionally referred to as his “Fourth Symphony”, The Poem of Ecstasy is really a symphonic poem. The work was premiered in New York a year after composition. Structurally it adheres to the broad outlines of sonata form, with a recognizable exposition, development, recapitulation and coda. Scriabin was a complex and enigmatic composer, and the work is intimately tethered to his mystical obsessions, is imaginatively orchestrated and brims over with sensuous, seductive and intoxicating beauty. The opening measures I find quite mesmeric. Lan Shui’s well-paced and idiomatically contoured performance taps into the mood, primeval urgency and atmosphere to perfection. He draws beautifully atmospheric playing from the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, revealing the multi-coloured sound world and impressionistic wash of this captivating score.
Yevgeny Sudbin’s 2006 performance of the Piano Sonata No 5, Op 53 was previously released on BIS SACD1568, and enthusiastically reviewed by Jens Laurson at the time. The Sonata was written just six days after The Poem of Ecstasy. It’s cast in a compact, single movement. After a coruscating opening of terrifying proportions, the music becomes feverish and intense, alternating with more languorous and dreamy passages. Sudbin has full measure of the peaks and troughs of this undulating score, delivering an impressive, idiomatic and stylish reading.
The premiere of Prometheus, The Poem of Fire, Op 60, the composer’s last completed orchestral work, was conducted by Serge Koussevitzky with Scriabin as piano soloist in Moscow on 2 March 1911. The work incorporates a complex concertante role for piano and wordless chant from a choir. Andrew Huth aptly sums up the scheme: “……..nothing less than the evolution of the world from formless chaos, through the appearance of mankind, fertilized by the divine spark, towards spiritual liberation and ultimate transcendence”. All of this is shaped around the Prometheus legend of Greek mythology. Shui directs a performance with a firm destination in mind. He coaxes striking contrasts between peppery dissonances and passages of striking beauty. Sudbin excels at every turn, with radiant and glowing contributions from the well-rehearsed Singapore Symphony Chorus and Singapore Youth Choir.
The performances are caught in stunning SACD multi-channel sound.
Stephen Greenbank
Published: November 14, 2022
