Jonathan Powell (piano): Scriabin Piano Sonatas
Victoria Rooms Auditorium
Our Victoria Rooms lunchtime concerts cost £5 admission (no concessions); UoB students are free, providing they present a valid UCard. The charge is necessary to enable the continuation of our series - we thank you for your ongoing support. Ticket price includes entry to a masterclass with Jonathan Powell starting at 2.30pm.
The admission charge for this concert can be paid through the university's online shop. Please find the link here.
Sonata no. 1 (1892)
Sonata no. 4 (1903)
Sonata no. 6 (1911-12)
Sonata no. 8 (1912-13)
Scriabin was at the forefront of European Modernism in the early 20th century, and gained a legendary reputation even in his own lifetime. With his messianic, symbolist vision, seductive musical language and highly idiomatic approach to the piano, his ten piano sonatas have now been recognised as one of the major cycles in the genre. This concert will take listeners on a journey from his post-Chopinesque first sonata (of 1892), to the otherworldly and idiosyncratic eighth (written in 1913).
Jonathan Powell started playing Scriabin's music aged 14, and during this season will perform all sonatas internationally. His recent recordings include concertos by Winterberg and Scharwenka (with the Berlin RSO and Poznań Philharmonic), and Sorabji's 8-hour Sequentiacyclica, for which he was awarded the Prize of German Disc Critics. Recent concert highlights include solo recitals at the Elbphilharmonie and Heidelberger Fruehling. This concert complements Powell's appearance at Bristol St George's on 6 November, when he will perform the remainder of the sonatas alongside smaller pieces by Scriabin: