Severin von Eckardstein's remarkable "Vers la flamme"

A strikingly original recital from Severin von Eckardstein on the Avi label entitled “Vers la flamme," with works by Scriabin, Richard Strauss, Messiaen and Beethoven.

Link to purchase the recording - https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9538591--vers-la-flamme

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This is Jed Distler and welcome to the Piano Maven, your friendly podcast guide to piano

(00:14):
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(00:39):
and to help keep this podcast in production.
There's a release that for some reason it didn't seem to get all of the attention that
I thought it would have gotten.
When I reviewed this disc for ClassicsToday.com, I think sometime back in 2023, I'm not sure

(01:00):
when in that year, but the disc features the German pianist Severin von Eckartstein who
has come out with some very interesting releases over the years.
And I was especially taken with the program that he put together for this release that
is entitled Ver la Flamme, which is the title of one of Alexander Skriabin's most incendiary

(01:27):
piano pieces.
Now when it comes to program building, most normal pianists would save putting a piece
like Ver la Flamme at the end of a recital or at a place where the climactic point would
seem appropriate in this recital.

(01:48):
But you would never open a recital with Ver la Flamme any more than you would open a recital
with Schumann's Toccata.
It just does not seem that practical.
But leave it to Severin von Eckartstein.
He opens this disc with the Skriabin Ver la Flamme and it's kind of a kamikaze move on

(02:12):
his part because basically by playing this piece and playing it the way he does, he basically
throws all of his cards on the table and he gives a very impassioned performance that's
full of ferocity and he spares no expense on those trills.
I mean he pounces on them like he's a Vladimir Horowitz mini-me or something like that.

(02:38):
And he really brings it off.
He brings off this conception amazingly well.
So what does this pianist do to follow such a wild opening act?
He goes into the Richard Strauss tone poem Death and Transfiguration in his own solo
piano arrangement.

(02:59):
What an idea.
I mean who does this kind of thing on a recital?
But again leave it to Severin von Eckartstein.
And what I like about his transcription is that it's not literal in the way that let's
say Otto Singer's solo piano transcription of Death and Transfiguration is.

(03:21):
What I mean by that is that when you have string tremolos, Otto Singer simply reproduces
their equivalent on the piano and they sound something like silent movie cliches to be
honest.
I don't think there's a recording of that but I have read through the Otto Singer transcription
and it does sort of sound like silent movie music.

(03:45):
But von Eckartstein instead uses arpeggios and runs and all other kinds of pianistic
figurations that embrace the whole keyboard in a very Scriabin-esque kind of way actually.
And it really works with the Strauss because the climaxes come off like waves rushing to

(04:09):
the shore rather than like rattling beer mugs on a table in a bar during an earthquake.
How did I come up with such a strange analogy?
But you get my drift.
This is a very effective transcription and I guess it's like what would a Strauss tone
poem sound like had someone like Scriabin transcribed it?

(04:32):
It really, really works.
And then Severin von Eckartstein moves from Richard Strauss to Olivier Messiaen which
is another bit of a shock, especially in how he plays the final piece from Messiaen's
Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jésus.

(04:52):
And his manner of playing this piece is kind of hard-hitting and even aggressive as if
Messiaen was like a heavy metal composer.
But I must say that this interpretive approach kind of works.
I mean it's not your rounded off stained glass blended color brand of Messiaen that you usually

(05:15):
get.
It's like well what if Vladimir Horowitz had played the Messiaen?
It might have sounded something like how Severin von Eckartstein plays this last piece.
And then after the Messiaen, get this, the pianist improvises a little bit in the style

(05:36):
of Messiaen and then he morphs his improvisation into something that sounds like fake Richard
Strauss.
And then the improvisation gradually settles into something that sounds like fake late
Beethoven.
And then the pianist settles into real late Beethoven and he plays the final sonata, the

(05:59):
sonata number 32 in C minor, Opus 111.
I have to cite my late friend Harris Goldsmith's statement when he said something like Maurizio
Polini's 1970s recording of the first movement of 111 as representing quote unquote purposeful

(06:21):
bleakness.
And that's exactly the impression that I get from von Eckartstein's performance of the
first movement of 111.
He's like a pianistic machine gun in terms of his articulation.
And when he plays the arietta, it's a little bit more about force and decisiveness than

(06:45):
ethereal mist and spiritual implications.
And as you listen to this, you'll notice a stronger left hand presence than usual.
And it gives the unfolding variations in this movement a palpable sense of backbone.
Now some listeners may feel that this interpretation is a little clinical or cold.

(07:09):
Maybe so in a way.
I was somehow reminded of that 1964 recording by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli.
But without that pianist's anachronistic breaking of the hands and his arguably sentimental
retards.

(07:29):
In any event, the totality of this recital of Severin von Eckartstein makes you think
and it makes you listen and it probably will shake you up a little bit.
And after I listened to this disc a few times and then wrote my review, it took me a while

(07:50):
to get this recording, to get this whole program and this assertive brand of piano playing
out of my head and out of my inner ear.
I just couldn't stop thinking about this recording for a while.
In short, this is really powerful stuff and this is a recital that can only come from

(08:11):
a truly adventurous pianist with something to say.
And that describes Severin von Eckartstein to a proverbial T. He's really found himself,
artistically speaking, with this release.
And it really makes a statement.
I highly, highly recommend that you check it out and you can find a link to listen and

(08:35):
to purchase this disc in my episode description.
This is Jed Dissler and you've been listening to the Piano Maven, your friendly podcast
guide to piano recordings.
Thanks so much for listening and I look forward to being with you for the next episode.
Take care.