This CD arrived quite quickly considering it had to come from England via the Royal Mail. Russian music, recorded by Russian musicians in the USA and Russia for a German label, but shipped from a warehouse in England.
The Silver Age in Russian music, at least as defined by Diaghilev, lasted only a decade: from 1907, when his concerts began in Paris, to 1917 when the Russian Revolution ended the party and exiled so many of the artists. This two-disc set amply captures the range of music with works by Prokofiev, Stravinsky and Scriabin. Two piano concertos, the 2nd, by Prokofiev and the other by Scriabin, are accompanied by the Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by Gergiev. The rest of the repertoire is solo piano with transcriptions from two Stravinsky ballets and the 8th Piano Sonata by Prokofiev.
Daniil Trifonov is a pianist with seemingly unlimited technical skills, not to mention deep musical sensitivities. His Prokofiev Sonata No. 8 is brilliant both musically and technically, as is his Sarcasms, op. 17. His ballet transcriptions of The Firebird and Petrushka are truly orchestral in their timbral resources. Indeed, I don't think I have ever heard the "Russian Dance" so well played. Trifonov never seems to lose the thread of the rhythmic drive despite Stravinsky's montage-like transitions.
The Piano Concerto No. 2 of Prokofiev is one of my very favorite concertos, especially the first movement and this is close to being a definitive rendering. Again, it is an exercise in color and shading. I'm sorry to say that I didn't know the Scriabin Concerto in F# minor before hearing this recording. I've never been quite sure what to make of Scriabin. I suppose you could describe his music as a kind of mystical post-Wagnerian journey. In any case, I was pleased to discover this concerto. The second movement, unusually, is a serene set of variations that grows in intensity leading up to a hyper-romantic finale.
Here is the first movement of the Scriabin Concerto in F# minor:
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