Thrilling in his 'Chopin Variations' recording(in tributes from Rachmaninov, Mompou and Busoni) Oleg Marchev excels in early Scriabin, in further tributes to Chopin but also to an advance into Scriabin's already distinctive voice. Morbid and introspective, Scriabin suffered an early and tragic set back after permanently injuring his hand trough obsessive over-practise of Liszt's Don Juan Fantasy and Balakirev's 'Islamey.' His wildly ambitious First Sonata bears witness to his despair, the final Funeral March ending with a passage marked 'quasi niente,' a gaze into oblivion and 'a cry against God and fate.' At the same time it could be seen as a princely funeral, 'the palanquin and horses heads nodding with black ostrich plumes, the pall bearers swarthily muffled to their tearless eyes.' A neglected masterpiece, the First Sonata makes huge technical demands, yet even when compared to Ashkenazy's masterly recording, Marchev's sumptuous tonal resource and instinct for Scriabin's rhetorical grandeur creates an unforgettable impression.
In the famous C sharp minor etude opening opus 3, there is again a memorable freedom, a give and take within the phrase, before a return to the composer's beloved Chopin in his 'Impromptu a la Mazur' from the sane opus. In the 24 Preludes, opus 11 Marchev is acutely sensitive to kaleidoscopic mood swings, from flashes of impetuosity to more subdued lyricism. He is more convincing at every level than Mikhail Pletnev in his recent recording of the Preludes for DG.
No praise could be high enough for performances that are those of a truly virtuoso pianist in the fullest and most comprehensive sense, and danacord's sound captures all ofjh his immense dynamic range.
Bryce Morrison