Alexander Melnikov plays Scriabin

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Melnikov’s control of texture, colour and mood rivals even the grand master, Horowitz. Outstanding. — Classic FM Magazine More…

Release Date: 8th May 2006
Catalogue No: HMN911914
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Series: Les Nouveaux Musiciens
Length: 67 minutes

Gramophone Magazine

July 2006

Editor's Choice
Building A Library

February 2022

Recommended Recording

Scriabin: 24 Preludes, Op. 11: IV. Lento

Work length2:06

$1.00

$1.30

Alexander Melnikov

Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 2 in G sharp minor, Op. 19 'Sonata Fantasy'

Work length10:37

$2.20

$3.25

Alexander Melnikov

I. Andante

Track length7:18

$1.20

$1.95

II. Presto

Track length3:19

$1.00

$1.30

Scriabin: Deux poèmes, Op. 32

Work length4:54

$2.00

$2.60

Alexander Melnikov

I. Andante Cantabile

Track length3:24

$1.00

$1.30

II. Allegro, con eleganza, con fiducia

Track length1:30

$1.00

$1.30

Scriabin: Fantasy in B minor, Op. 28

Work length9:28

$1.20

$1.95

Alexander Melnikov

Scriabin: 3 Pieces, Op. 45: I. Feuillet d'Album

Work length1:24

$1.00

$1.30

Alexander Melnikov

Scriabin: Two Pieces, Op. 57

Work length3:12

$2.00

$2.60

Alexander Melnikov

I. Désir

Track length1:36

$1.00

$1.30

II. Caresse dansée

Track length1:36

$1.00

$1.30

Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 3 in F sharp minor, Op. 23

Work length16:42

$4.00

$5.20

Alexander Melnikov

I. Drammàtico

Track length5:35

$1.00

$1.30

II. Allegretto

Track length2:11

$1.00

$1.30

III. Andante

Track length3:55

$1.00

$1.30

IV. Presto con fuoco - Maestoso

Track length5:01

$1.00

$1.30

Scriabin: Preludes (5), Op. 74

Work length6:02

$5.00

$6.50

Alexander Melnikov

I. Douloureux, déchirant

Track length1:04

$1.00

$1.30

II. Très lent, contemplatif

Track length1:55

$1.00

$1.30

III. Allegro drammatico

Track length0:41

$1.00

$1.30

IV. Lent, vague, indécis

Track length1:24

$1.00

$1.30

V. Fier, belliqueux

Track length0:58

$1.00

$1.30

Scriabin: Quatre Morceaux, Op. 56: II. Ironies

Work length2:07

$1.00

$1.30

Alexander Melnikov

Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 9, Op. 68 'Black Mass'

Work length9:10

$1.20

$1.95

Alexander Melnikov

Scriabin: 9 Mazurkas, Op. 25: Mazurka No. 3

Work length2:14

$1.00

$1.30

Alexander Melnikov

Reviews
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Reviews

Melnikov’s control of texture, colour and mood rivals even the grand master, Horowitz. Outstanding.

2010

Writing with touching enthusiasm and insight, 33-year-old Alexander Melnikov is clearly lost in wonder over Scriabin's strange and evercontroversial genius. Referring to the composer's 'eclectic mixture of mysticism, theosophy and a hefty dose of megalomaniac ambition', he offers up a richly comprehensive recital ranging from Op 11 to Op 74 – from personal if Chopin-inspired beginnings to the dark, opalescent obsessions of his final years. And never for a moment would you doubt his nationality, his poetic empathy or his superb pianistic mastery.
At the same time Scriabin's idiosyncrasy can rarely have sounded more natural, his music emerging as if new-minted, improvised, as it were, in the first white heat of inspiration.
Whether whipping up a storm in the Second Sonata's tempest-tossed finale or contrasting a clipped, even severe way, with the Third Sonata's opening Dramatico with a truly glowing and interior sense of lyricism, he is ideally attuned to Scriabin's volatile imagination. The Op 57 pieces emerge teasingly enigmatic despite their titles (Désir and Caresse dansée) and the Ninth Sonata can rarely have had its subtitle (Black Mass) or instruction (légendaire) more acutely observed. More generally, while wholly individual, there is something of Martha Argerich's pace and nervous vitality, her flame-like brilliance, about these performances.
Harmonia Mundi's sound is suitably vivid and immediate. The recital is dedicated to the memory of Vladimir Sofronitsky – for Melnikov and many others the finest performer of Scriabin's music and a pianist who, according to Sviatoslav Richter, 'discovered an elixir of life in Scriabin's upward spiral'.

July 2006

…33-year-old Alexander Melnikov… offers up a richly comprehensive recital… Scriabin's idiosyncrasy can rarely have sounded more natural, his music emerging as if new-minted, improvised, as it were, in the first white heat of inspiration. Whether whipping up a storm in the Second Sonata's tempest-tossed finale or contrasting a clipped, even severe way, with the Third Sonata's opening Dramatico with a truly glowing and interior sense of lyricism, he is ideally attuned to Scriabin's volatile imagination. ...while wholly individual, there is something of Martha Argerich's pace and nervous vitality, her flame-like brilliance, about these performances.

Alexander Melnikov plays Scriabin

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