Octo_Russ

Scriabin - Piano Music [Lisovskaya] 

I'm not sure where i bought this disc, but one look at the cover, and i had to get it!, a young woman draped over a piano, with plain colour tones of brown and black, a superb photogenic shot [by Karen Kartashian], a nice shot of angles and perspective, well done to BIS for this recital.

Sophia Lisovskaya is Russian, born in 1976, she's now 34, she made this recording in 2000, a strange recital of bits and bobs of Scriabin, a whole Sonata, Ten of the 24 Preludes Op11, and short pieces here and there, neither one of something, nor two of something else, but it's a great introduction to the piano world of Scriabin, and a nice addition to my own Scriabin library.

In playing the whole of this recital today, i enjoyed tracks 4, 10, 12, 15 & 18 the most, and i was especially enchanted by track 15, the Prelude Op16/1, it reminds me of Satie in a way, it's a rather sad little piece, almost Scriabin's 'Raindrop Prelude', i can just imagine the scene with someone longingly looking out the window, with raindrops trickling down, the left hand plays a bass intro, but it's the right hand treble that steals your heart away [0:12], yes it's like a Gymnopedie, and the treble tune is truly glorious, so aching and bewitching, and there's a great emphasis on the first note when the essence of the little tune is repeated [0:29], a superb emphasis that takes my breath away, the development of the tune is also so incredible, mid and upper keyboard play a little duet, lovely bell tolling sounds in the treble [0:45], the opening right hand treble is repeated [1:12], and it's gorgeous to hear this again, and there's a section where the first beat of every bar in the treble is accentuated to a dreamy effect [1:44-2:11], it rises and falls in expression, with a zenith in the high treble at [1:58], before it slowly comes down to earth again, Scriabin certainly knows how to weave a tune around your heart!. 

Here's young Miss Cristina Lan playing the Prelude Op15/1 on YouTube, a little bit too quick, and not quite enough emphasis on those high treble notes, but incredible nonetheless.