Scriabin: Prometheus | Dirk Kaftan & the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Pauli Jämsä (piano)

The Prometheus myth as program music: The symphonic poem “Prometheus: The Poem of Fire”, Op. 60 (Prométhée. Le poème du feu, Op. 60) by Alexander Scriabin was on the program at the Beethovenfest Bonn 2021. Pauli Jämsä (piano) and the Beethoven Orchester Bonn played the piece, conducted by Dirk Kaftan. The concert took place at the World Conference Center Bonn (WCCB).

Prometheus is considered the archetype of the rebel, but also a fundamental creator of culture. Because he steals fire from Zeus, the father of the gods, and brings it to mankind, he is chained to a rock as punishment. There, an eagle pecks out his steadily regrowing liver again and again until Hercules frees him from this predicament. Since antiquity, the Prometheus myth has been reworked countless times by artists.

Alexander Scriabin (1871 - 1915) composed a symphonic poem on the Prometheus theme that was far ahead of its time: Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, for piano, organ, choir and large orchestra, Op. 60 from 1910. For the performance, Scriabin had planned a color piano through which colors corresponding to the notes played were to be projected onto a screen. However, this symbiosis of music and colored light was not realized until after Scriabin's death. But with his last orchestral work, the Russian composer was able to celebrate great success even without the visual effect.

Musically, Scriabin breaks new ground with the Prométhée by no longer relying on major-minor tonality, but by using sounds of quartal layers, which have gone down in history as the “Prometheus Chord” or “Mystic Chord”. The series of performance names in the score hint at the idea of the creation of fire. They are: Lento. Brumeux - Contemplatif - Très animé, étincelant - Avec émotion et ravissement - Avec un éclat éblouissant - Prestissimo.

The performance of Prometheus in Bonn took place without a chorus and without a color piano.

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