Scriabin's ten complete piano sonatas offer a fascinating insight into the Russian composer's stylistic development. While his first works still fully reflect the late-romantic tradition, the late works keep bursting the bounds of tonality. The boldly outlined, two-movement Fourth Sonata marks a turning point, for it evokes the world of the 'Poème de l'extase with its mystical atmosphere hovering between ethereal rapture and ecstatic flight. The publication of opus 30 means that all of Scriabin's sonatas are now available in Henle Urtext quality and edited by the expert Valentina Rubcova of Moscow - an invitation to all pianists to plunge into this unique cosmos. / Piano
