His mature affinity for Scriabin comes through in the way he contours phrases, sentences and paragraphs, and in his sensitive layering of complex textures…Where Kholodenko is least persuasive is in conveying a sense of abandon…For all that, a great deal of thought has clearly gone into [his] interpretations and his aim to demonstrate continuity across the distinct phases of Scriabin’s output is certainly achieved.

Kholodenko selects a careful chronological sequence that shows Scriabin emerging from the Chopin-inspired Preludes of Op 13 and Op 16, played with great sensitivity, towards the wilder Fourth and Fifth Sonatas, so that by the time we’ve reached the final track we are ready for the extraordinary revelation of Vers la flamme, Op 72, written in February 1914, in which musical language seems to fall apart.