There is no shortage of recordings of
Scriabin
's
The Poem of Ecstasy, Op. 54
, but there are several considerations that recommend this one by the
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
under conductor
JoAnn Falletta
beyond simply the budget
Naxos
-label price (and dollar for dollar, it is likely the best
Poem of Ecstasy
out there). One is the presence of the considerably less well-known
Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 29
, and here,
Falletta
delivers a corker of a performance where her long tenure in Buffalo really shows. This early work was influenced by
Cesar Franck
, and
cleanly brings out the inevitable derivation of the triumphal finale from the preceding material. She does not get bogged down in the earlier Wagnerisms and the occasional Tchaikovskian melody, and there is an "ecstasy" in the work that seems to point forward to the mature
.
The Poem of Ecstasy
is likewise quite strong.
does not deliver the resonant perorations of a
Gergiev
, but her performance has the same virtues as those of the
Symphony No. 2
. It is on the fast side, and it moves cleanly through a great variety of orchestral colors. Those are brought out especially well by the
engineering team in Buffalo's Kleinhans Hall, a sonically underrated venue. An excellent
release all the way and one that shows
building a true tradition in Buffalo. ~ James Manheim