Vasily Petrenko is to record all of Scriabin’s symphonies with the Oslo Philharmonic. The Russian conductor, who has been chief conductor of the Norwegian orchestra since the 2013-14 season, has paired Symphony No. 3 and the Poem of Ecstasy (Symphony No. 4) for the first disc in the project. It will be out this October on Lawo Classics, marking the start of a new partnership with the Norwegian label.
After discs featuring the other three symphonies, Petrenko hopes to tackle Scriabin’s Preparation for the Final Mystery, the first part of a wildly ambitious work that the mystical Russian composer imagined would be performed over seven days at the foothills of the Himalayas. He left it unfinished at his death. ‘Alexander Nemtin completed the Final Mystery from the surviving sketches after working on them for over 20 years,’ explains Petrenko. 'This would be a great way to crown our work with Scriabin. At first the orchestra was a little unsure about his music, but they worked very hard on the Symphony No. 3 and the Poem of Ecstasy and are now big enthusiasts for Scriabin.’
Petrenko already has an impressive list of recordings of Russian repertoire to his name. As well as a BBC Music Magazine Award-nominated recording of Rachmaninov’s First Symphony on Warner, Petrenko’s set of the complete Shostakovich symphonies for Naxos with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra has been hailed as a modern recording landmark. His recording with violinist Baiba Skride and the Oslo Philharmonic of Szymanowski’s Violin Concertos for Orfeo was also nominated for a BBC Music Magazine Award last year.
