Composer: Alexander Scriabin,
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Performer: Vanessa Benelli Mosell
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Decca
Catalogue: 4812491
Release: 2016
Size: 490 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
24 Preludes for piano, Op. 11
01. No. 1 in C Major
02. No. 2 in A Minor
03. No. 3 in G Major
04. No. 4 in E Minor
05. No. 5 in D Major
06. No. 6 in B Minor
07. No. 7 in A Major
08. No. 8 in F Sharp Minor
09. No. 9 in E Major
10. No. 10 in C Sharp Minor
11. No. 11 in B Major
12. No. 12 in G Sharp Minor
13. No. 13 in G Flat Major
14. No. 14 in E Flat Minor
15. No. 15 in D Flat Major
16. No. 16 in B Flat Minor
17. No. 17 in A Flat Major
18. No. 18 in F Minor
19. No. 19 in E Flat Major
20. No. 20 in C Minor
21. No. 21 in B Flat Major
22. No. 22 in G Minor
23. No. 23 in F Major
24. No. 24 in D Minor
3 Pieces for piano, Op. 2
25. 1. Etude in C Sharp Minor
26. 2. Prelude in B
27. 3. Impromptu A La Mazur
28. Scriabin: Etude In D Sharp Minor Op. 8 No. 12
Stockhausen: Klavierstuck XII (Examen von Donnerstag aus Licht)
29. 1. Examen
30. 2. Examen
31. 3. Examen
Vanessa is a rising star on the international music scene, continuously praised for her virtuosity, technical brilliance and the sensitivity of her musical insight, which have been shaped significantly in mentorships with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Yuri Bashmet.
This new album includes music by Alexander Scriabin as well as by her mentor, Stockhausen, thus putting together two composers both considered visionaries in their respective different historical periods.
Vanessa performs Scriabin’s 24 Preludes op. 11, which she considers to be one of the most accessible works of the composer and ideal start to discover this composer. She also plays the Etude op. 8 no. 12, one of Scriabin’s most frequently performed and popular works.
Another tribute to Karlheinz Stockhausen, the composer she studied with, comes the recording of Examen / Klavierstueck XIII: this recording continues with the purpose of introducing and presenting the piano music of one of the most crucial personalities of the XXth century.
Stockahusen’s Klavierstueck XII is extremely fascinating and picturesque, since the pianist also has to whistle, make all sorts of noise and browse between the string inside the piano.
Vanessa Benelli Mosell studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen in his old age. Whether this makes her an authoritative interpreter of the Klavierstücke, specifically the one here extracted from the giant Licht (Light) opera cycle, may be debated. But she certainly gets the energy in this work, one of Stockhausen’s most accessible, and she enters enthusiastically into its jazz accents and exotic vocal effects. The bulk of the program here, however, is devoted not to Stockhausen but to Alexander Scriabin. The “light” theme is intended to apply to both composers, but the early works of Scriabin performed here, the 24 Preludes for piano, Op. 11, and the even earlier 3 Pieces, Op. 2 and Etude, Op. 8, No. 12, carry little hint of the synaesthetic experiments to come later in Scriabin’s career. Mosell seems to admit as much in the interview-style booklet, where she turns first to the totalizing tendencies of these composers. Nevertheless, the program holds together reasonably well on its own (and it’s noteworthy to see the name Stockhausen on a major-label release). Mosell has a rather explosive style in the Preludes, which see the composer breaking out into his mature idiom. You could sample one of these very short pieces, such as the 47-second “Allegro agitato,” for a taste of Mosell’s style. The more Chopin-esque pieces in the middle of the program then take on the character of an interlude before the more extreme sound world of Stockhausen. This is the kind of release that makes you want to hear more from the performer involved, even if it does not succeed in every respect.