Peter Orth's 2015 release on Challenge Classics offers a helpful comparison of the piano works of Alexander Scriabin and Sergey Rachmaninov, contemporaries and colleagues who, for a time, composed in a rather similar vein. Both composers were overwhelmingly influenced by Chopin in their early works, so Scriabin's set of 24 Préludes, Op. 11 (1888-1896) and Rachmaninov's Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 28 (1908) both reflect this much-imitated style. (Over the years, Rachmaninov also composed his own 24 preludes, though ...
Read More
Peter Orth's 2015 release on Challenge Classics offers a helpful comparison of the piano works of Alexander Scriabin and Sergey Rachmaninov, contemporaries and colleagues who, for a time, composed in a rather similar vein. Both composers were overwhelmingly influenced by Chopin in their early works, so Scriabin's set of 24 Préludes, Op. 11 (1888-1896) and Rachmaninov's Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 28 (1908) both reflect this much-imitated style. (Over the years, Rachmaninov also composed his own 24 preludes, though they weren't published together as a single set.) Orth's program is almost evenly balanced between the two works, and the contrasts of Scriabin's sparkling miniatures and Rachmaninov's expansive and brooding sonata are just as important as their similarity of styles. Yet as interesting as the comparisons may be, Orth's playing is the most enjoyable aspect of this recording, and his refined expressiveness and controlled energy are well-suited to this late Romantic music, so both works...
Read Less