Alexander Scriabin | The Complete Welte-Mignon Recordings (Piano Rolls 1910)

[@pianolainstitute]

It would be good to add some credit to the people who made this upload possible. To begin with, the recording was made on a Feurich upright Welte-Mignon, manufactured in Leipzig, and owned and restored by the late Kenneth Caswell of Austin, Texas. Without Ken's lasting passion for reproducing pianos the comments on this page would not be anything like as complimentary. Ken was also responsible for restoring the push-up piano player used for the Welte series of Recorded Treasures, which came out on LP in the 1960s, and in that case also his pivotal role is hardly mentioned. That is not to malign Karl Miller, also of Austin, who was the fine post-recording engineer and dedicated organiser of the Pierian CD label, because Ken is suitably credited in the accompanying CD booklet, but unfortunately the route via Naxos and KZbin tends to omit such details. Ken had modified his piano to play from Welte-Licensee rolls, an American system that used the same style of dynamic coding that the original Welte red rolls did, but with smaller perforations, so that the width of the rolls fitted with the international standard of 11 1/4 inches. In most cases that meant that Ken had to get the original rolls copied, and at the time he was working on such projects, the best roll copier was the late Richard Tonnessen, who also played an important part, therefore. These pianos only sound good when they are in what one might call the right hands, and there is absolutely no guarantee that they will continue to do so when they are passed on to others, be they individuals or institutions. If you are interested in learning more about the Welte-Mignon recording process, and the people involved, may I delicately suggest that you visit the Pianola Institute website, and in particular the page for the Welte-Mignon, which is here: pianola.org/reproducing/reproducing_welte.cfm Finally, you will find recordings of all Scriabin's Hupfeld rolls, together with copious explanations, on KZbin, at the following address: kzbin.info/door/1fDYWL2t9XiSW9tr8ii5pQ Rex Lawson, Pianola institute

[@TheLifeisgood72]

The sound here is more beautiful than other videos…. Wow, just wow.

[@falamimire]

Many thanks for this treasure.Wonderful channel you have there.

[@pianomasters3752]

You are welcome ! Thank you for your comment :-)

[@rebsondodjidahouede3799]

It sounds so good

[@rafi1234321]

This is awesome

[@BrassicaRappa]

OH! These are different from the ones I've heard before! Did he do multiple recordings? Thanks so much for sharing!!

[@pianomasters3752]

Scriabin also recorded for Hupfeld, you are welcome ! 😉

[@anasroumeih3605]

The sound here is way better than any other video online. Is it only the quality of sound or perhaps a better performance of the piano rolls as well?

[@pianomasters3752]

Both I think...

[@maximiliennoel3447]

See also the Ravel's recordings playing his own works on the same device (1913)

[@Viktor-lp4cn]

Down with the metronome! Long Live Music!

[@newaccounter]

Tried to follow along with some of Scriabin’s recordings once (on a piano) and his rubato almost gave me a stroke

[@EggMCMUFFIN-e4l]

Chopin was known to never play the same piece twice! After all, Scriabin did compose the piece so he has all rights to “artistic flexibility”

[@АлександрРябов-ц6о]

I think you forget about op 45 no 1

[@pianomasters3752]

@@АлександрРябов-ц6о Scriabin recorded this work for Hupfeld only.

[@АлександрРябов-ц6о]

@@pianomasters3752 Ah, okay, sorry. My mistake.

[@fastSnowman2]

is it only me or is there some swing in op11 no1 here?

[@blablablu3081]

Siempre escuché la versión del Estudio opus 8 grabada por Scriabin mucho más rápida. ¿Es la misma pero con alguna modificación del tempo? ¿O es otra?

[@pianomasters3752]

No sé. Estas son grabaciones de Welte-Mignon del CD "Alexander Scriabin The Composer as Pianist". A lo mejor la grabación del Estudio a la que estás acostumbrado sea de las grabaciones de Hupfeld.

[@blablablu3081]

@@pianomasters3752 Ah. Gracias por la info.

[@TheLifeisgood72]

@@pianomasters3752 These are played at different tempos from other recordings. I think these are more correct. But Op8 No12, Poem Op32, Prelude Op22 are definitely too slow. The mazurka is probably too fast. The rest are good tempi.

[@jean-francois.chemila]

J'avais depuis 25 ans un vieux CD de ces oeuvres, avec des nuances de mauvaise qualité. Ici, c'est beaucoup plus expressif et agréable. Mais êtes vous sûr que ce sont bien les nuances de Scriabine ?

[@pianomasters3752]

Ce sont les enregistrements sur rouleau de Scriabine, oui (évidemment les nuances sont reproduites de manière très approximative, étant donné que c'est un enregistrement mécanique).

[@jean-francois.chemila]

@@pianomasters3752 je vous remercie, mais ma question se voulait plus précise. J'avais la notion que welte mignon, dans son premier système d'enregistrement, était incapable de capter les nuances, et que celles ci étaient indiquées à postériori par le pianiste, qui signait ensuite le rouleau pour l'authentifier. Ensuite, Welte Mignon aurait été capable de capter directement pendant l'enregistrement 5 volumes de nuances. Compte tenu du fait que j'ai exactement toutes ces pièces sur un vieux CD ("Scriabine et les scriabiniens) mais avec une qualité de son et de nuances bien inférieure, je m'étais demandé s'il n'y avait pas eu un récent travail sur les rouleaux afin d'affiner ces nuances, sans l'accord de Scriabine puisqu'il n'était plus là. En particulier, pour la pièce "Désir", certains pianistes, y compris Neuhaus, évitent tout crescendo vers la fin, alors que Scriabine le fait ici, et que sa partition ne précise rien à ce niveau. D'où ma question. Le système ampico était arrivé à capter encore mieux les nuances, hélas il n'a été utilisé que par Rachmaninov, et ce système a connu son perfectionnement après la mort de Scriabine.

[@pianomasters3752]

@@jean-francois.chemila Je ne sais pas si les nuances que l'on entend ici sont celles voulues par Scriabine, en tout cas ces enregistrements sont disponibles sur le CD "Alexander Scriabin, The Composer as Pianist" (The Caswell Collection)

[@jean-francois.chemila]

merci beaucoup@@pianomasters3752

[@pianomasters3752]

@@jean-francois.chemila Je vous en prie 😁

[@СтепанА-с3и]

Слава великому Звереву, под руководством которого делали первые шаги в музыке два русских гения - Рахманинов и Скрябин. И маленькая ремарка:сравните, пожалуйста, пианизм Скрябина с пианизмом современных "гигантов" - Мацуева, Березовского, какого-нибудь Ланг-Ланга и - даже! - самой талантливой среди них Юджи Ванг. И вам все сразу станет ясно. КАК СТОИТ играть на рояле и как на нем играть, ну скажем так, НЕ СТОИТ. И это еще мягко сказано, и даже с некоторым уважением к бойцам без правил нынешнего пианистического "ринга". Эх!..

[@Narragorth]

Ну есть же и Соколов, Киссин, Шифф, Баренбойм, Аргерих. А из молодого поколения - Трифонов.