05 August 2024
|
Works by Scriabin including Vers la flamme and Sonatas 2, 3 & 4
Yoojung Kim
Scriabin Piano Sonatas Nos 2, 3 and 4, Fantaisie Op 23, Poèmes Op 32 & 63, Morceaux Op 57, Vers la flamme Op 72
Bridge 9578
4 STARS
Scriabin is a composer doubtless many of us have vowed we'd play some time just as soon as we've got all the other composers under our fingers. The fact is, musically and technically he's a tough nut to crack. Tonalities that are constantly in flux, melodies that flower only to float away, abrupt contrasts of mood and dynamics – he's the shape shifter of classical music.
So, all credit to Yoojung Kim for shining a light on Scriabin's ever-changing world and making us fall in love with his music all over again. Away from the bracing crescendos it's the delicate pianissimo passages that reveal whether a performer gets Scriabin or not and Kim really gets him.
For proof, listen to her sensitive playing in the mysterious first movement of the Fourth Sonata, her measured opening of Vers la flamme whose tension she builds slowly but inexorably and the Poèmes. Yes, she can play forte with the best of them, although the slightly muffled recording quality robs her fortissimos of bite but it's her sensitivity that distinguishes this recording.
John Evans