Light and shade lend an infinity of nuances to the sound colours, which are at first somewhat disquieting and then profoundly disturbing: a series of anguished convulsions and menacing tensions gradually die away to leave only the solitary sound of the notes. Life is triumphant, a few plaintive sounds are to be heard. The composers' nationality, for they were above all and foremost Russian, is everywhere obvious in the eloquence of the higly colourful writing. (Naïve Records) ==================================== Works on This Recording 1. Sonata for Piano no 3 in F sharp minor, Op. 23 by Alexander Scriabin ■ Performer: Grigory Sokolov (Piano) ■ Period: 20th Century ■ Written: 1897-1898; Russia ■ Date of Recording: 03/26/1988 ■ Venue: Saint Petersbourg Philharmonia ■ Length: 20 Minutes 45 Secs. 2. Sonata for Piano no 9 in F major, Op. 68 "Black Mass" by Alexander Scriabin ■ Performer: Grigory Sokolov (Piano) ■ Period: 20th Century ■ Written: 1912-1913; Russia ■ Date of Recording: 03/26/1988 ■ Venue: Saint Petersbourg Philharmonia ■ Length: 9 Minutes 27 Secs. 3. Sonata for Piano no 8 in B flat major, Op. 84 by Sergei Prokofiev ■ Performer: Grigory Sokolov (Piano) ■ Period: 20th Century ■ Written: 1939-1944; USSR ■ Date of Recording: 03/15/1984 ■ Venue: Saint Petersbourg Philharmonia ■ Length: 30 Minutes 10 Secs. 4. Preludes (10) for Piano, Op. 23: no 3 in D minor, Tempo di minuetto by Sergei Rachmaninov ■ Performer: Grigory Sokolov (Piano) ■ Period: Romantic ■ Written: 1901-1903; Russia ■ Date of Recording: 06/02/1988 ■ Venue: Glinka Chapel Saint Petersburg ■ Length: 4 Minutes 59 Secs.