Artist: Anya Alexeyev
Album: Parallels: Piano Music of Scriabin and Roslavets
Genre: Classical
Release Date: 2011
Audio Format:: FLAC (tracks) 24 bit, 96 kHz
Duration: 01:12:55
Total Tracks: 23
Total Size: 904 MB

Tracklist:

1. Anya Alexeyev – Scriabin. Piano Sonata No.2 Op.19 – I. Andante (08:09)
2. Anya Alexeyev – Piano Sonata No.2 Op.19 – II. Presto (04:26)
3. Anya Alexeyev – Roslavets. Piano Sonata No.2 – Moderato con moto – Allegro moderato (12:06)
4. Anya Alexeyev – Scriabin. Two Poems Op.32 – No.1 Andante cantabile (03:26)
5. Anya Alexeyev – Two Poems Op.32 – No.2 Allegro Con eleganza – Con fiducia (01:38)
6. Anya Alexeyev – Roslavets. Two Poems – No.1 Allegretto fervido (02:17)
7. Anya Alexeyev – Two Poems – No.2 Moderato (03:07)
8. Anya Alexeyev – Scriabin. Five Preludes Op.74 – No.1 Douloureux dechirant (01:35)
9. Anya Alexeyev – Five Preludes Op.74 – No.2 Tres lent contemplatif (01:40)
10. Anya Alexeyev – Five Preludes Op.74 – No.3 Allegro drammatico (00:53)
11. Anya Alexeyev – Five Preludes Op.74 – No.4 Lent vague indecis (01:46)
12. Anya Alexeyev – Five Preludes Op.74 – No.5 Fier belliqueux (01:16)
13. Anya Alexeyev – Roslavets. Five Preludes No.1 Andante affettuoso (01:42)
14. Anya Alexeyev – Five Preludes No.2 Allegretto con moto (02:02)
15. Anya Alexeyev – Five Preludes No.3 Lento (02:24)
16. Anya Alexeyev – Five Preludes No.4 Lento (01:47)
17. Anya Alexeyev – Five Preludes No.5 Lento rubato (02:18)
18. Anya Alexeyev – Scriabin. Three Etudes Op.65 – No.1 Allegro fantastico (03:24)
19. Anya Alexeyev – Three Etudes Op.65 – No.2 Allegretto (01:54)
20. Anya Alexeyev – Three Etudes Op.65 – No.3 Molto vivace (02:07)
21. Anya Alexeyev – Roslavets. Three Etudes No.1 Affettamente (05:08)
22. Anya Alexeyev – Three Etudes No.2 Con dolce maniera (02:20)
23. Anya Alexeyev – Three Etudes No.3 Burlando (05:18)

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It may seem unlikely that Nikolai Roslavets would have consciously composed works in imitation of Alexander Scriabin, so that both composers would have pieces that could be matched up, title for title, as they are on this album by pianist Anya Alexeyev. But once one hears the music, the influence of Scriabin is obvious and omnipresent, so such a gesture on Roslavets’ part as naming and numbering his pieces after Scriabin’s doesn’t seem farfetched. Roslavets’ Two Poems, Five Preludes, and Three Etudes correspond to the identically named Scriabin works, which are paired here, and even the two piano sonatas have a superficial resemblance in their two-movement formats. But beyond the uncanniness of the pairings, the connections in the music can be explained easily, for Roslavets adopted many of Scriabin’s techniques, most notably the use of the “synthetic chord” or a central complex harmony used as source material for an entire composition, in the manner of Scriabin’s Prometheus, Poem of Fire. Furthermore, Roslavets would have regarded Scriabin as the most progressive mind in Russian music of his day, perhaps as innovative as Schoenberg was in Austria, so he obviously derived his methodology and sound from his predecessor. Because the hot-house, perfumed style of both composers creates a dreamlike blur, it’s easy to confuse their pieces here, and unless one pays strict attention to the track listing, the beginnings and endings of pieces can seem indistinct. Alexeyev is skilled and expressively adept in this genre of piano music, and she plays with great energy and passion, though her languorous style of performance lends a similarity of mood to the pieces, which makes it even more likely that listeners will draw the intended parallels between Scriabin and Roslavets. Marquis’ sound is enjoyable for its clarity and resonance, and the ambience of the room lends an appropriate aural halo to the piano. –  Review by Blair Sanderson