Scriabin (2016)

By emphasizing the Romantic side of Alexander Scriabin on her 2016 release on Steinway & Sons, pianist Klara Min offers early works but avoids the more complex pieces of Scriabin's late period. This is fine for making an album that will appeal to a wide audience, which this CD seems to invite through its moody cover art and fanciful description of Scriabin's music on the back cover. Certainly, such easy to digest pieces as the Prelude in B major, Op. 2, No. 2, the Etude in C sharp minor, Op. 2, No. 1, the Preludes, Op. 11 ... Read More

By emphasizing the Romantic side of Alexander Scriabin on her 2016 release on Steinway & Sons, pianist Klara Min offers early works but avoids the more complex pieces of Scriabin's late period. This is fine for making an album that will appeal to a wide audience, which this CD seems to invite through its moody cover art and fanciful description of Scriabin's music on the back cover. Certainly, such easy to digest pieces as the Prelude in B major, Op. 2, No. 2, the Etude in C sharp minor, Op. 2, No. 1, the Preludes, Op. 11, and the Impromptus, Op. 14, can evoke dreamy or rapturous moods that are attractive to casual classical listeners. But none of these pieces by the "adventurous modernist" convey his intense, mystical explorations after his Chopin-influenced youth, except for the lush Pieces, Op. 57, which hint at what his music would become. Min is a capable pianist with a taste for languid phrasing, and generally subdued dynamics, but her album reflects a view of Scriabin that tells only part of... Read Less