Scriabin: The Poem of Ecstasy, Op. 54, Prometheus, Op. 60 & Piano Sonata No. 5, Op. 53

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The Russian mystic’s most layered, outlandish scores need state-of-the-art sound. Trust BIS to provide it from producer Robert Suff and sound engineer Fabian Frank, working in Singapore’s Esplanade... — BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2022, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 7th Oct 2022
Catalogue No: BIS2362
Label: BIS
Length: 55 minutes

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Scriabin: Symphony No. 4 - 'Le Poème de l'extase', Op. 54

Work length22:06

Album only

Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Lan Shui

Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 5 in F sharp major, Op. 53

Work length11:16

$2.05

$3.85

$5.25

Yevgeny Sudbin (piano)

Scriabin: Prometheus (The Poem of Fire), Op. 60

Work length22:30

Album only

Yevgeny Sudbin (piano)
Singapore Symphony Youth Choir, Singapore Symphony Chorus, Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Lan Shui

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"One of the boldest and most radical composers of all time, Alexander Scriabin had a lifelong obsession with occult and mystical ideas. Initially under the influence of Chopin, Wagner and Liszt, his music later became more complex, taking on an expressive power which provoked extreme reactions from audiences – of adulation as well as repulsion. Not shying away from hyperbole, Scriabin once declared: ‘I am the apotheosis of creation – I am the aim of all aims – I am the end of all ends.’ The three works featured on this disc belong to Scriabin’s final compositional period where the music seems to veer between voluptuous languor and striving energy. Composed back-to-back, the Poem of Ecstasy and the Fifth Piano Sonata are drenched in bitter-sweet harmonies and carefully constructed dissonances. The scores of both works make reference to the same poem – by Scriabin himself – which ends with the lines ‘thus the universe resounds with the joyful cry: I AM!’. In his last symphonic poem, Prometheus — The Poem of Fire, Scriabin aims even higher. Here he expresses the evolution of the world from formless chaos, through the appearance of mankind, fertilized by the divine spark, towards spiritual liberation and ultimate transcendence. The unusually large orchestra and a wordless choir produces a kaleidoscope of contrasts, colours and sounds caught up in an ecstatic whirl."

Reviews

Christmas 2022

The Russian mystic’s most layered, outlandish scores need state-of-the-art sound. Trust BIS to provide it from producer Robert Suff and sound engineer Fabian Frank, working in Singapore’s Esplanade Concert Hall...None of this is to underestimate the fluent work of Lan Shui, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s music director from 1997 to 2019 (he’s now its conductor laureate); his is certainly the onward engagement, and possibly the texturing too.

December 2022

For all the yearning, roaring and burning, in both Ecstasy and Prometheus Shui balances expansive growth against a clear sense of direction.

January 2023

Lan Shui’s account of Op 60 displays many of the virtues I detect in his reading of Op 54 – a good feel for the work’s architecture, a strong sense of purpose and a refusal to indulge in expressive overload…Good, solid orchestral performances, very well recorded; the Sudbin sonata is a welcome bonus.

Classical CD Choice 29th November 2022

This new take from Yevgeny Sudbin and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra is something special, with a full-blooded performance showcased in the best possible sound... The unusually large orchestra and a wordless choir produces a kaleidoscope of contrasts, colours and sounds caught up in an ecstatic whirl.

Scriabin: The Poem of Ecstasy, Op. 54, Prometheus, Op. 60 & Piano Sonata No. 5, Op. 53

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