Vladimir Horowitz’s affinity with the music of Scriabin bordered on clairvoyance, and his interpretations captured the composer’s necromantic spirit like few others. The pianist’s mercurial temperament, ferocity of attack, and restless manipulations of tone color, pedal effects, and dynamic hues work in tandem to bring the music’s demonic undercurrents to an intense boil. As you listen to him play the Ninth and Tenth Sonatas, you don’t hear thematic cells develop into larger patterns. Instead you visualize shadows that materialize into monsters, or a kitten working its way out of a paper bag, then growing fangs, sharp claws, and a devil’s tail. Trills and tremolos aren’t just decorative effects but fuel for impassioned pianistic fire. Horowitz’s Vers la flamme scorches like no other performance, and even lighthearted pieces such as the so-called “Mosquito” etude (so named for its long chains of dissonant trills) are tinged (or should I say “singed”) with disquiet. You never can predict when an unexpected accent or inner voice or sudden dip in a lyrical line will transpire, yet these effects never are momentary diversions–rather, they’re integral components of a sonic design that fully exploits and ultimately transcends the piano’s mortal strings and hammers.
This reissue contains all of the Scriabin selections that Horowitz made for Columbia Masterworks, including both versions of three pieces that he recorded twice (the C-sharp minor and D-sharp minor Etudes and the F-sharp Poème). While sound quality varies a bit from session to session (the 1962 engineering, in fact, is warmer and more spacious than the drier, almost flinty 1972 material), Horowitz’s artistry soars at its musical and intellectual apex. If you could choose only a single Scriabin CD for your collection, make it this one. [11/29/2003]
