Firma Melodiya presents a double album of Vladimir Sofronitsky’s records.
“Piano poet” was the name given to Vladimir Sofronitsky by Heinrich Neuhaus, outstanding pianist and teacher. “You can ‘disagree’ with him, … however, you cannot but listen to him, - he wrote, ¬- and when listening, you cannot help feeling and realising that this kind of art is extraordinary and unique, that it possesses traits of supreme beauty”…
Vladimir Sofronitsky’s mastery is a comprehensive phenomenon of the 20th-century Russian music, which is difficult to fit into the Procrustean bed of “pianism”. Many performances by Sofronitsky (particularly those in the Scriabin museum and other small halls) were beyond ordinary “concerts” for the audience: listeners had a feeling of complete unity with the work, with the spiritual world of its author, embodiment of Music and Beauty…
Being an unchallenged interpreter of works by Alexander Scriabin, seeming to hold the key to all secrets of his music, Sofronitsky was no less profound in embodying the worlds of the musical Romanticism, conceived the dramatic power of Beethoven`s sonatas, was a remarkable and ingenious interpreter of music by Sergei Prokofiev and other contemporary composers.
Melodiya is preparing for release a collection of the great pianist’s records. This series includes works by Scriabin, Chopin, Schubert and Liszt recorded in the 1930-50s, as well as the last concerts by Vladimir Sofronitsky at the Small Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in 1960.
