A tribute to Pianist Joseph Villa (1948--1995)
Scriabin: Sonata no. 4 in F sharp major op. 30
This particular rendition of the Scriabin Fourth Sonata indeed reveals some of the most outstanding qualities of Joseph Villa's pianism, which is the reason why I thought to post it here on Youtube.
I became acquainted with Villa's magnificent recordings of Scriabin a few years ago, and I was totally enraptured by the beauty of his tone, the 'romantic' conception of the sonority (in the true sense of the word), his tasteful and sensual 'rubato', and what impressed me even more was how his volcanic passion is always in tune with every culminating point of a piece.
His live recording of Schumann's Symphonic Etudes brought me to tears once, for the richness and beaty of his tone, and for the profoundness of his expression, which hypnotizes the listener from the first to the last sound.
His Scriabin interpretations are among the very best, and the truth and grandeur of his playing make me somehow compare his Scriabin to Arrau's Beethoven.
Hope to have a chance to share more of his Scriabin playing on Youtube.
SR
Short Biography (from an article in the NY Times):
Joseph Villa was born in Garfield, N.J., on Aug. 9, 1948, and studied at the Juilliard School with Sascha Gorodnitzki. He later studied privately with Claudio Arrau and Olga Barabini, and he made his debut in a recital at Alice Tully Hall in 1972.
Mr. Villa recorded several albums of works by Liszt. One was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque Liszt in 1978. He also made recordings of many works by Scriabin. As an accompanist, he gave performances with the sopranos Jessye Norman and Victoria de Los Angeles, the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and the violinists Joseph Fuchs and Eugene Fodor. And he was a frequent participant in chamber music performances at Bargemusic in Brooklyn.
Tags: Joseph Villa Pianist Alexander Scriabin Sonata 4th op. 30 Piano
![Chelsea Chen Plays Duruflé Prelude & Fugue [2 of 2]](http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/fzCVzCs7DK4/default.jpg)
![Chelsea Chen Plays Durufle' Prelude & Fugue [1 of 2]](http://i4.ytimg.com/vi/Wh5_SqjA7Kk/default.jpg)
![Chelsea Chen Taiwanese Suite [Part 3 of 3]](http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/nwODIBPAAxY/default.jpg)
![Chelsea Chen Taiwanese Suite [Part 2 of 3]](http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/2RSY7iWr8sY/default.jpg)
![Chelsea Chen Taiwanese Suite [Part 1 of 3]](http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/Nz57otSfBUk/default.jpg)
![Liszt Rhapsodie Espagnole played by Sandro Russo [2 of 2]](http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/AgxzSgjQMTY/default.jpg)
![Liszt Rhapsodie Espagnole played by Sandro Russo [1 of 2]](http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/bxkOVdnIres/default.jpg)
