Scriabin Opus 9 Prelude and Nocturne for the left hand alone
The Scriabin Opus 9 Prelude and Nocturne for the left hand alone are among my favorite works by this composer. Though early works still under the strong influence of Chopin's romanticism, particularly in the Prelude, the fact of having to compose works for the left hand resulted in a unique outpouring of creativity. These two pieces are gems, perfect creations on a small scale.
The Prelude from the Scriabin Opus 9 is a lovely Chopinesque piece, but in it one already hears elements the Scriabin to come. The genius of this piece is that there is no sense in the listening of its having been written for one hand. There is no virtuosity obligata here, just a simple plaintive song of great beauty and harmonic richness.
There are three exceptional performances of the Nocturne Op. 9/2, a much more adventurous and difficult work The one by Cliburn 2009 Finalist Mariangela Vacatello is simply to die for, as are, in very different ways, the performance by noted Scriabin interpreter John Bell Young and the one by Rachmaninov's and my favorite pianist, Benno Moiseiwitsch. But I must say that my discovery of the Vacatello performance has left me in a dreamlike state, with an expression on my face very like that on Ron Weasley's in the sixth of the Harry Potter movies while under the influence of an irresistibly bewitching love potion.
Scriabin Opus 9 n°1 Prelude for the left hand
Andrei Gavrilov, piano
Vladimir Horowitz, piano Recorded live in the 1970s
Werner Naenni, piano
Evgeny Zarafiants, piano
Scriabin Prelude Op.9 n°1 for the left hand Scriabin Nocturne Op.9 n°2 in Db Major for the left hand
Yi Fan-Chiang, piano Recorded live 2008
Grigory Sokolov, piano Recorded live 2007
Scriabin Opus 9 n°2 Nocturne in Db Major for the left hand
Mariangela Vacatello, piano semifinal recital at the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition 2009.
Benno Moiseiwitsch, piano Recorded 1929?
Richard Bosworth, piano Recorded live 2005
Mogens Dalsgaard, piano
John Bell Young, piano
Martina Filjak, piano Cleveland International Piano Competion First prize winner 2009.
