A Scriabin marathon by Peter Donohoe

By Mark Pullinger, 23 April 2017

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Reviewed at Guildhall School of Music & Drama: Milton Court Concert Hall, London on 23 April 2017

Scriabin, Piano Sonata no. 1 in F minor, Op.6

Scriabin, Piano Sonata no. 4 in F sharp major, Op.30

Scriabin, Piano Sonata no. 9 in F major, "Black Mass Sonata," Op.68

Scriabin, Piano Sonata no. 5 in F sharp major, Op.53

Scriabin, Piano Sonata no. 6, Op.62

Scriabin, Piano Sonata no.7 "White Mass Sonata", Op.64

Scriabin, Piano Sonata no. 8, Op.66

Scriabin, Piano Sonata no. 2 "Sonata Fantasy" in G sharp minor, Op.19

Scriabin, Piano Sonata no. 3 in F sharp minor, Op.23

Scriabin, Piano Sonata no. 10, Op.70

Peter Donohoe, Piano

Gerard McBurney, Director

Mike Tutaj, Video

Musically peerless but battering: Wozzeck in Aix

David Karlin, 7th July

Sir Simon Rattle and the LSO give an orchestral performance to remember, with a fine singing cast, but Simon McBurney's staging dials the bleakness to maximum too early.

***11

Salonen leads the Philharmonia in an animated Prometheus

Edward Sava-Segal, 4th December

Trying to rekindle the public’s interest for a rarely played work, Salonen and his collaborators took an unusual approach.

*****

Twilight draws on LA Phil’s look back at Weimar Germany

Néstor Castiglione, 13th February

The Los Angeles Philharmonic under Salonen look back at the dwindling twilight years of the Weimar Republic.

****1

A resurrection of a Hollywood oddity by Rattle and the LSO

Chris Garlick, 13th January

Sir Simon Rattle’s resurrection of a Hollywood extravaganza, the Genesis Suite, entertains at the Barbican.

****1

Hallé goes “beyond the score”

Holly Harrison, 28th October

"Muddle instead of music": three foreboding words laden with threat and designed to destroy the reputation of a promising composer writing in the grip of the Iron Fist.

*****

Prom 52: An excellent evening of innovation from Elder and the Hallé

Aaron Davies, 23rd August

The Halle orchestra combined forces with a troup of actors to deliver a Beyond The Score analysis & performance of Dvorak's famous 9th Symphony (from the New World.)

****1

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

A Scriabin marathon: Peter Donohoe scales the complete piano sonatas