Scriabin

[Pulcinella]

I trust you have a functioning airbag BBM!

I think he must still have L plates on his mobility scooter.

[RichardB]

It's been said that Poème de l'extase is the loudest orchestral piece ever written, even before anyone rams it with a car.

[Serial_Apologist]

It's been said that Poème de l'extase is the loudest orchestral piece ever written, even before anyone rams it with a car.

That accolade would be better deserved by Havergal Brian's "Gothic" - though didn't Stravinsky say of "Turangalila" that its composer seemed jealous of the sound barrier?

[smittims]

It depends how loudly you play it, and where. The end of 'Ala and Lolly' was deafening in the Free Trade Hall, but probably nicely spacious in the Royal Albert.

Constant Lambert said that the premiere of 'Symphonie Fantastique' was probably the loudest noise any of the audience had heard , but today's modern music (he was writing in the 1930s ) was no louder than the background to the average telephone conversation. I think he took his calls in the saloon bar of the 'George'.

[Barbirollians]

Prompted by the classics reconsidered feature in Gramophone I bought a used copy of the Piano Concerto,Prometheus and Poem of Ecstasy record by Ashkenazy and Maazel .

All performances struck me as very fine even if in Prometheus Ashkenazy does not quite match the extraordinary Argerich/Abbado account. Maazel’s Cleveland account of the Poem of Ecstasy I thought relatively restrained compared to Stokowski but none the worse for it.