Alexandre Scriabine (1872-1915)
Préludes, op. 11
Vers les flammes
Sonate pour piano n° 10

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Valse de Méphisto n° 3
Nuages gris
En rêve
Bagatelle sans tonalité

Philipp Kopachevsky, piano

This program shows a fascinating diversity of styles: Scriabin’s Preludes Op. 11 are clearly moulded on Chopin’s Preludes Op. 28 in their Chopinesque melodic lines and extreme mood shifting. The preludes are the most “old fashioned” works on this disc, as we move on into the darker and mysterious world of late Scriabin, the 10-th Sonata and “Vers la flamme” (towards the flame) exalted creations of a mind seeking connection with the spiritual forces of the cosmos. The harmonic language of late Scriabin, the building of chords in intervals of a fourth (instead of the traditional thirds) finds a curious predecessor in “Late Liszt”, whose Third Mephisto Waltz, Nuages gris and Bagatelle sans tonalité are using the fourth (or the augmented fourth, the tritonus) as the basis of the melodic and harmonic discourse. Philipp Kopachevsky is one of the most remarkable pianists of the younger generation. Winner of several international competitions he is in much demand as a soloist, having played with conductors like Rostropovich, Gergiev, Spivakov, Pletnev and many others. This is Philipp Kopachevsky’s second CD for Piano Classics.