Scriabin, like other Russian artists of his day, valued the associative and aesthetic possibilities promised by synaesthesia; for Scriabin, synaesthesia never manifested itself as a physiological condition, but as an exercise of the imagination. For a detailed discussion, see my work, "Scriabin Defended Against His Devotees: A Critical Evaluation of the Composer in the Context of Russian History, Religion, and Culture" or Kevin Dann's "Bright Colors, Falsely Seen" (Yale U. Press)
Bravo! An excellent, informative, and entertaining lecture. But Ohlsson is dead wrong with regard to one thing: Scriabin was NOT an authentic synaesthete; there is not a shred of medical evidence to suggest anything of the kind. Rather, synaesthesia was adopted and worn as an aesthetic badge of honor by the artists, musicians, and writers who comprised the Russian Mystical Anarchists, who saw it as a means to legitimize the collective consciousness they envisioned for a pan-artistic world.
Hi, Garrick. Great presentation, as good and engaging as always. I'm your long-ago Miami piano technician. Love you, always, Reid Welch 305 666 0777
ampdavolts 10 months ago
Scriabin, like other Russian artists of his day, valued the associative and aesthetic possibilities promised by synaesthesia; for Scriabin, synaesthesia never manifested itself as a physiological condition, but as an exercise of the imagination. For a detailed discussion, see my work, "Scriabin Defended Against His Devotees: A Critical Evaluation of the Composer in the Context of Russian History, Religion, and Culture" or Kevin Dann's "Bright Colors, Falsely Seen" (Yale U. Press)
guirlandes3 1 year ago
Bravo! An excellent, informative, and entertaining lecture. But Ohlsson is dead wrong with regard to one thing: Scriabin was NOT an authentic synaesthete; there is not a shred of medical evidence to suggest anything of the kind. Rather, synaesthesia was adopted and worn as an aesthetic badge of honor by the artists, musicians, and writers who comprised the Russian Mystical Anarchists, who saw it as a means to legitimize the collective consciousness they envisioned for a pan-artistic world.
guirlandes3 1 year ago
Comment removed
guirlandes3 1 year ago
Great talk. I met Mr. Ohlssson in 198x in Troy NY . If I remember ccorrectly, he was performing Bartok. Fantastic pianist and a wonderful man.
classicalPiano1 1 year ago
Which Christmas? Which Easter? The Russians used a slightly differenct calendar if I remember correctly?
Malaka57 1 year ago
so nice
he return or the stienway
nice to meet you here
qais18 1 year ago
amazed that both Chopin&Scriabin didn't get late Beethoven.WhyNot?
lovesGenet 1 year ago
he was GOD
alkanian 2 years ago
I had no idea Scriabin was born on X-mas day... and died on EASTER?!?!?!?!
What an irony!!!!
ReturnOfTheStienway 2 years ago
ReturnOfTheStienway,
Scriabin once said, "I am God!"
Thanks 92ndStreetY for this great post.
LVB1770 2 years ago