Scriabin - Sonata No. 3 fis-moll op.23, movt. I

[Erik83474]

One of my favorite versions.... but the version of Alexander Melnikov stays on top... :-)

[sergeypiano]

@Erik83474 Thank you!

Melnikov's version I find quite good although we diverge in some of the key (in my opinion) aspects. :-)

[chadmaster410]

I love this performance

[sergeypiano]

@chadmaster410 Thank you!

[afertyus1000]

this is one of my fave scriabin

[sergeypiano]

@afertyus1000 Thank you!

[JanisRaderPiano]

Quite a stunning interpretation. Look forward to future postings!

[sergeypiano]

@JanisRaderPiano Thank you!

[jtdendy]

sergey, i enjoyed this immensely. you have a definite pianistic style, and while some may disagree with certain interpretive choices you make, i think your performance is beautiful in so many ways... bravo! i was wondering if you could briefly discuss the particular challenges this piece presents for the pianist (technical, musical, pedaling, voicing, etc.)? it would be very helpful to pianists who are working on this sonata. thanks so much!!

[sergeypiano]

@jtdendy Thank you very much!

As for the recommendations, it's hardly possible to give any cut-and-dried solutions that would work for everyone. Still, I'd say that the most important task for me in the sonata has been achieving the variety of timbres AND using these timbres in different voices at the same time, that is, polyphonic playing.

Secondly, don't push heavily into the keyboard, it's not Rachmaninov.

Thirdly, play the first two octaves with one hand as written, not with two. :)

[sergeypiano]

@jtdendy A couple of points more:

The last page of the 3rd movement is where, as Scriabin said, the stars were singing. Separate the three strata by sound and timbre as much as possible, and the sound shouldn't be muffed here.

In the finale, as said, don't push left hand down into the keys, there must be the feeling of flight here, also through the sound character and the touch.

Don't rush the scherzo too much, then it'll be more fantastic.

[jtdendy]

@sergeypiano thanks! very interesting! the polyphony in this piece would certainly be a challenge to balance and voice... again, beautiful job!

[NathanaelSaintCyr]

Clearly a incredibly fine pianist, but this is probably the most affected and disconnected interpretation of any piece I've ever heard. Also the most bizarrely off-meter playing I think I've ever witnessed. Simply, I have never seen someone execute a piece of music with such deliberate affectation... Just bizarre. I'd use this as a teaching tool to demonstrate "affected playing" to students. You know how hard you have to work to make Scriabin sound this awful? HARD! It's almost offensive.

[sergeypiano]

@NathanaelSaintCyr :-)))

I am afraid we diverge strongly in how this piece and Scriabin en masse may and should be played. I daresay my performance is quite in line with the tradition of this sonata represented for instance by Jakov Flier or Scriabin himself (player piano rolls of the first two movements have remained) and in context of the current Scriabin performance practice in Russia, for example Peter Laul and many other pianists.

[NathanaelSaintCyr]

@sergeypiano I do sincerely believe you're a fine pianist, but as you stated, we "diverge strongly". The piano roles we both know are not close to being accurate t? Also, you change the meter almost ever other phrase. Scriabin is very specific, the counterpoint drowns-out if you play so unevenly and out of rhythm, it just sounds like noise with no beginning or end... To your credit, you do play it in the proper time whereas most pianists do not. I wish you much success monsieur. :-)

[sergeypiano]

@NathanaelSaintCyr

Thank you for the wishes!

When it comes to rhythm, the piano rolls are quite credible; after all, the clockwork that provides the movement speed stability had been perfected long before invention of player pianos. All the more credible if we know that the recorded rolls satisfied the recording artists themselves.

[sergeypiano]

@NathanaelSaintCyr

I have to say you are the first person known to me who finds my performance to be out of context of conventional understanding of this sonata or of Scriabin performing style, or particularly surprising. I can only assume that you treat time here in too small units and hence see detachedness where others feel continuity...

[MadMadMadTom]

Scriabine ... amongst the handful of greatest ever composers in the Western Art Music tradition from pre-Bach to the present day. ...

Yamaha? Nothing wrong with Yamah'as, and more forgiving than a Steinway. ....

Kuznetsov. He is not bad either!

[VICTORMANUELMORALES]

Wonderful pianism!

[sergeypiano]

@VICTORMANUELMORALES Thank you!

[gmtry1]

Dear Sergeypiano, any concert tour plan in Asia in the near future? Just wonder when and where I can hear you play these amazing repertoire in concerts! Thanks for your reply!

[sergeypiano]

@gmtry1 Sorry for the late answer. At the moment, no Asian concert tour is planned. Sorry again. :-)

[thomasmoredamian]

When will people start realizing what a sensational composer Scriabin was? It is as if he took the electricity of Chopin and mixed it together with the romanticism of Rachmaninoff and came up with something very special/memorable/ strong and utterly unique....

[mrmolinodelahoz]

Because understanding Scrabian is like understanding a very sophisticated philosophy. Few of the public are up to the realization of this.

Ashkenazi did much to introduce Scrabian some years ago and his performance is excellent.

[maxi937]

This is such a great piece.

[danielito1979]

beautiful, This is wonderful please keep posting your videos.

[sergeypiano]

I know, this looks unexpected, neverthelss, THE Yamaha piano that was in that concert hall was an extremely fortunate sample, much much better than the Yamaha pianos typically found in the concert halls outside Japan, and WAY better than THE Steinway piano that stood in the same hall.

[chad410]

I wonder why he choosed a Yamaha. i am however convinced.

[mrmolinodelahoz]

The Yamaha sounds great, as it is played by a great musician.

What more do you want, fancy labels like Versace?