Scriabin - 21 Mazurkas [Pizarro] This is the first time Scriabin appears in my Blog, his piano music has that ethereal mysticism about it, almost as if he as a Composer purposely took a different path from what others had done before him, one of the things i notice about these Mazurkas as i played them again, is how much Scriabin had a great tendency to repeat himself, some of these pieces sound very similar!, as if he couldn't break free and create something truly uniquely original, there's deja-vu all over the place!.
Artur Pizarro is Portuguese, born in 1968, and now 42 years old, he recorded this disc back in 1993, the front cover is really quite bland, but pleasing enough i guess.
My favourite Mazurka has always been Op25/8 [track 18], it has a certain 'John Ireland' about it, and it could easily have come from his pen, it's quite an individual Mazurka, however, on this listen i was taken aback with the earlier Op3/4 [track 4], which actually sounds very much like a Chopin Waltz!, very bright and cheerful and tuneful, at the opening [0:00-0:18] i can just imagine a sweet couple gently gliding across the floor to this waltzy opening, it's such an innocent and unassuming theme to the whole piece, and it's the constant return of this opening tune again and again [0:44, 2:59 & 3:44] that makes it such a joy to listen to, there's a central section which plays a new very lyrical and slow variation of the opening theme [1:12-2:59], and within this it has a central section which is darker, agitated and troubled [2:04-2:24], altogether a brilliant little piece of music from an underestimated Composer who should be known even better.
Here's Artur Pizarro playing Mazurka Op3/4 on YouTube.
