Vassily Primakov plays Scriabin Piano Sonata No. 4

[NordicHealer]

Very Fine performance indeed!!!

[arjens0]

Great playing, but what a shit grand piano..

I know it is difficult to to find a real good sounding Steinway.

It is internet, so the sound can never be perfect,but if you listen to some Horowitz recordings

here on internet, than you here the difference between a bad and a real good Steinway.

A good recording engineer with good microphons like Neumann or BK will help.

.

Good luck,

Great playing

[trigalg693]

@arjens0 most pianos don't sound that great, just pay attention to the music :P This piano has fine dynamic and tonal contrast, that's all you can really ask for.

[arjens0]

Scriabin himself sad the 7th was his best.

I think he was right.

[ukdavepianoman]

I find playing this sonato just as difficult as any of Scriabin's sonatas both in terms of stretches required, agility and tone control. The fact that a great like Emil Gilels could go so completely wrong in one passage in concert shows the dangers of this sonata. I think this is a fine performance.

[hunkyung1215]

so great! ㅠ ㅠ 감동감동~!

[jaredbookbinder]

awesome job!

[pipaspaz]

Such an Amazing Interpretation!

[FranzLisztian]

This is my favorite Scriabin sonata, this and the fifth one.

[mancklin]

This is absolutely marvelous. Thank you Primakov and Bridge Records!

[jcwchang]

very free and an amazing performance!

[Choltik]

7:30 to 8:16 Sooo beautifull!

[michieldpiano]

He should study the works of Feinberg immediately and record them!

[RPTilos]

Az örök kedvenc!

[MISHA1119]

Cowhead, (such an appropriate name) do you even play the piano? Or is your technique confined to munching clumps of fodder in keeping with your dull, bovine obtuseness? Trust me, he is not struggling, but is merely employing the subtle rubato that any emotionally nuanced performance of this piece demands. Primakov has a virtuoso mechanism, and builds vaporous sheets of sonority,

creating a radiant, ecstatic sense of flight that Scriabin himself insisted was central to the entire work.

[cowheadcow]

Hmm. His rubato seems like a very obvious attempt the hide the fact that he's not technically proficient enough to play certain sections. I would have liked to see him start at a slower tempo and being consistent throughout rather than straining himself. Honestly this was a little uncomfortable to listen to because I could feel him struggling.

[cowheadcow]

@bboyairchao I don't know this for sure. Perhaps it's all intentional. I just get this impression from the way he plays it.

[nostradamusguy]

@cowheadcow I really don't see this trepidation. He plays confidently and originally, just as Scriabin would have wanted. It's the best interpretation YouTube has to offer, expect maybe the Gilels.

[cowheadcow]

@nostradamusguy probably. The sonata is of course extremely difficult so I don't expect many pianists to be able to play it at the speed that you'd hear in a recording. I dunno - just something I hear. Obviously he's a very good pianist and brings something unique to the whole thing. Something about it just makes me feel that way. Can't make sense of feelings :-)

[xxh3llfir3xx]

@cowheadcow

actually this sonata is regarded as one of the easiest both technically and musically.

[nathan87]

@xxh3llfir3xx not sure i agree with that. But even if I did, it's still in a relative sense. it is by no means an easy sonata :)

[kelkolilla]

When I want to listen an authentic, wonderful recording of an Scriabin piece, I usually resort to those really important pianists who are famous for their performances of this composer's pieces. But with this Sonata, those recordings always left a bad taste in my mouth.

I was waiting for somebody who didn't let him or herself be carried along by the speed, uncontrolled velocity, in the second movement. I was simply waiting to listen 08:00 to 08:05 be played like this. Best moment.

[marginallymental]

@kelkolilla, I know what you mean. My favorite Sonata No. 4 is Mikhail Pletnev's, although I admit I'm stupid enough to miss anything wrong with it. I love the play in this piece and then the end, which is ecstasy itself. It takes a really perceptive pianist to do this justice. I fell in love with Pletnev's interpretation on CD exactly a week before he was arrested. It makes me incredibly sad.

[okera123]

Excellent!! Supreme performance of this romantic gem.

[davidjalbertpiano]

Awesome performance Vassily. You just convinced one of my students to learn this piece, thanks!

[DmitriMose]

REALLY Interesting how there are some obvious themes lagging from the 3rd Sonata.

[bagdad4]

a great honest performance...but i couldnt help noticing how tight his shoulders are!

[carnivalcruiserbill]

This is a fantastic performance of this piece. It is the best performance that I have heard of this sonata.

[kareemSedki]

He plays it beautifully, but beauty for some is just the opposite for others. His interpretation is sensitive, immense and broadly portraying.

[tuxdcat]

Thank you BridgeRecords101 for putting quality this high on YouTube.

[PrestoTenebroso]

I read what Dr. Scribaninoff had to say, and I saw the first few moments, and I thought I was going to dislike this performance, but it's great. Great audio quality, good playing, perfect video quality. This is a bargain!

[VB8745]

I disagree with Drscriabinoff.  Smelling the roses, the perfume, the atmosphere, is what makes a great Scriabin performance. This performance has it, along with great structural coherence. Berman? Please! Dry, dry dry!

[Drscriabinoff]

Over-emotional self-indulgent and just soupy. I hate how he "smells the roses" in every single phrase, always milking every note to death. Wish he'd get over himself. Scriabin's music has more integrity than this - where's the structural backbone? Frustrating to hear this rendition. Think I'll go and listen to Berman or Gilels now just to remind myself of how great this piece really is.

BTW-I wonder how long the weird primakov cult at bridge records will allow this comment to remain here.

[composerrobby]

Of all composers, to criticize a performance of Scriabin for sensitivity to every sensuous nuance implied in the music seems anti-Scriabin, rather than a judgement based on his own heightened interest in synaesthesia, his own ecstatic poetry, his final wish to combine all the sensual elements in an eveloping Mysterium. Emotionalism of the most acute order is the impulse for nearly every piano work, staring with the earliest pieces, culminating in the late sonatas. Smelling roses? Oh..yes..!!

[meticulum]

Drscriabinoff, why do I get the feeling this Primakov guy engenders a litle envy on your part?

[HankDrake]

One rarely heard Scriabin's Sonatas played with such structural unity. Absolutely superb!

[composerrobby]

an excellent, superb quality video, with a great performance of this ecstatic piece. I await the entire cycle!

[loves2listen]

finally someone who puts high quality recordings (audio / video) on youtube. thank you BridgeRecords101!

and of course a phenomenal piano player!