Status Updates From Scriabin, a Biography

Interesting but doesn't quite get as close to the man Scriabin as one would like. Scriabin is, unfortunately, a mostly forgotten Russian composer and pianist are the only ones who play him these days.

This was the only Scriabin biography I could find. It's a little old (written in the 50's) but still well written. The first 100 pages are a summary of the history of Russian classical music up until Scriabins birth which was a little bit of surprise... Very erudite.

The author’s perspective is hopelessly dated and it takes away from the subject matter. That being said, I appreciate that a great deal of research was completed and the author was indeed qualified to write about his mercurial subject.

A tough slog through the first section, the author’s biases make for a difficult read in 2023. That being said, as I do my own best to suspend judgement, I appreciate the information I’ve acquired so far (the ‘history’ of Russian music) and am able to draw my own conclusions against the self-righteous, condescending prose style of this arrogant arse of an author.

A little dry so far, but it’s still early. I’m grateful the author has added a history of Russian music pre-Tchaikovsky, it helps paint an historical landscape so that one may understand Scriabin contextually, a task he frequently find daunting.

One of the best biographies I've ever read.