Scriabin and Albéniz, together at last? The links between these two composers (if there are any) and the reasons why their music should be heard together on an album are not made abundantly clear. In fact, the liner notes contain no mention at all of why
Scriabin's Poeme de l'extase and Albéniz's Iberia appear together on this Berlin Classics CD. Yes, both composers wrote highly evocative, descriptive music. But while Albéniz was seeking to create a distinctly Spanish musical idiom,
Scriabin was more of an amalgamation of artist-philosopher and composer.
Perhaps if these two disparate works were given stellar performances, their juxtaposition would be more successful. That, however, is not the case either. The Dresden Philharmonic, led by Johannes Winkler for
Scriabin, produces a performance that seems harsh and difficult rather than fluid and sweeping. Frequent intonation difficulties exist, particularly in the brass section, and the percussion section often overwhelms the rest of the orchestra. Similar problems exist when conductor
Jorg-Peter Weigle takes the helm for the Albéniz. Balance problems are even more of an issue, and the intonation problems that were once confined to the brass section bleed out into the strings. There's nothing idiomatically Spanish to be found with this interpretation of Iberia, either. Like the
Scriabin, Albéniz's masterpiece comes across as an orchestra just trying to get through the notes.