Journey Into the Abyss

The Silver Age of Russian culture spanned the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. It was a period when Russian art found itself at the crossroads between a fascination with Western culture and a celebration of it's own roots and the Slavic tradition of the Great Rus'. That mounting century-old trend reached it's apogee at the time. And even though lasting only two decades or so, it produced a host of outstanding artists. These included the poet Akhmatova, the painters Kandinsky and Chagall, and the composers Scriabin and Stravinsky. One other was Alexei Stanchinsky, a young composer from the circle of Taneyev and Scriabin. Hailed as a rising star of classical music, Stanchinsky was endowed with a rare talent. His march to greatness came to a halt with his sudden and tragic death in 1914. Meanwhile, the Silver Age itself was also brought to an end with the Bolshevik revolution three years later. On this release Witold Wilczek presents piano music by Alexei Stanchinsky.