International award for Scriabin recording
Oslo Philharmonic's recent Scriabin album receives Presto Classical's Award as one of the top 10 classical recordings of 2017.
Written by Fred-Olav Vatne
Vasily Petrenko with the Presto Classical Award. (Photo: CF Wesenberg)
The recording of Alexander Scriabin's Symphony No. 2 and Piano Concerto, with the Oslo Philharmonic, conductor Vasily Petrenko and pianist Kirill Gerstein has been well received by critics since its release last year. Still, being picked as one of the year's best recordings in the world is a special honour for the orchestra and its chief conductor.
"This is an award for the Oslo Philharmonic, more than for me or the soloist," Vasily Petrenko says to Ofo.no.
"It’s also very important to me, I’m very glad and grateful. The award is a great recognition of what we are doing. To me it means that we are on the right path, and that many more awards will come in the future and show the excellence of the Oslo Philharmonic to the world."
Reading the many positive reviews of the album, Petrenko is most encouraged by those that express a growing appreciation of Alexander Scriabin as a composer.
"I think Scriabin is one of the most underestimated composers of the 20th century. He deserves much wider recognition, especially for the 2nd symphony. When critics write things like “this is such great music, how could I’ve missed it before”, that’s the most important for me − when people discover greatness in the repertoire they didn’t know about."
"A terrific permormance"
The Scriabin album is part of a series on the LAWO Classics record label. They've collected all the reviews of the album on their online store. Here's a few excerpts from the reviews:
Jed Distler in Gramophone writes: "... the Oslo Philharmonic and their chief conductor Vasily Petrenko brilliantly navigate these challenges ... the concerto is memorable, the symphony is indispensable."
Read review: Scriabin review in Gramophone
Norman Lebrecht, who named the recording Album of the Week, writes: "Oslo are lucky to have Vasily Petrenko, who maintains a deft balance between genius and madness. ... The orchestra sound sensational."
Graham Rickson in The Arts Desk writes: "This is a terrific performance; Vasily Petrenko's Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra play as if possessed, the sonorities suitably dark but never too thick."
Read review: Scriabin review in The Arts Desk