Scriabin Sonata No.7 performed by Joseph Villa

One of the rarer recordings, taken from an album CD that was given to me of Joseph Villa performing quite a few Scriabin piano works.

The White Mass is closely related to its predecessor, the sixth sonata. Both works were written in 1911--12 and have structurally and stylistically more in common than any other pair of Scriabin sonatas. Scriabin reportedly feared the sixth sonata, considering the work to be corrupted by demonic forces and going so far as to refuse to play the work in public. Scriabin composed his seventh sonata as an exorcism against the darkness of the sixth sonata, subtitling the work White Mass in order to reflect its celestial nature. He intended the mood of the piece to be ecstatic, evoking images of winged flight, voluptuous rapture and overwhelming forces.

Of all the recordings of the 7th Sonata, I still got back time and time again to listen to Joseph Villa's. There is something magical about this recording, the way he is able to play and the chords and sounds to make it sound like it's ringing from near and far, which is originally what Scriabin described it as. The way the running notes create this "searing" effect. Don't let me spoil anything, listen to it and judge for yourself.

I hope you all enjoy this rare recording.

Thank you again Hiroyuki for this gift!

Cheers!