Search - Scriabin, Golovchin, Shpiller :: Piano Concerto / Mysterium

Mad but brilliantly so!

Patrick W. Crabtree | Lucasville, OH USA | 11/11/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Russian composer and philosopher, Scriabin, ultimately fell to mental illness. He supposedly endured life with a disease that caused him to see certain colors at the hearing of various tones, (synaesthesia). Such an affliction could have given rise to his idea of writing 'The Mysterium', a project that he barely got off the ground. The end product was to last for days (in India), manifesting the use of all manner of orchestrations, choruses, and prop accoutrements. At the culmination of this lengthy rendering, Scriabin believed that he and the other participants would experience God and perhaps even Heaven itself.

Still, in the end, he made pretty good notes on the so-called Prefatory Act (opening) and that's what we get to hear on this CD. I have listened to it many times, portions being melodic while other facets are atonal. I was reminded, in places, of Berg's 'Wozzeck' but, of course, Scriabin's music much preceded that fine Berg atonal opera. Certain compositions of the great Edgar Varese also come to mind while listening to the 'Prefatory Act'.

I highly recommend this CD if you've a notion for atonal music or even an ear for organized musical chaos."