Scriabin: Vers la flamme

Mixed Bag

     

The music on this CD comes from some of Scriabin's most famous pieces (Preludes, Etudes, Sonata #4 and Sonata #10, and the Vers La Flamme). Some very technically superb and spectacular music making here, Riley especially shines in the fireworks of the Vers La Flamme and the sparkling Sonata #10. However in most of the performances I don't agree with his interpretation -- perhaps I'm too used to listening to other interpretations. His tempos seem either too slow or too fast. This is particularly apparent in his playing of the Op. 11, no. 1 for example, which should be a slow, sonorous piece which O'Riley races through. The music is not helped by the muddled sonics of the audio. Either the acoustics are not right or something is wrong with the recording. Perhaps there's been some post-recording processing to make this very stylized, echo-y sound. Overall I'm not very happy with this CD, but O'Riley's performance of the Sonata #10 and Vers La Flamme alone are reason enough to give this one a listen through.