SCRIABIN: PREPARATION FOR THE FINAL MYSTERY; NUANCES Vladimir Ashkenazy Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin Decca 466 329-2 3CDs Full Price

If you've never heard of these two works of Scriabin, then you're not alone. Neither had I. In fact, they can only be described as 'by' Scriabin in a rather loose sense of the word. Both are largely the fruits of the work of Alexander Nemtin, a Russian composer who devoted an extraordinary 26 years of his life to the realisation of sketches left by Scriabin at the time of his death in 1915.

These sketches were for a 'Preparation' for a conception called 'Mysterium'. The Mysterium, according to the sleeve-note, was to be 'a mixture of rite and drama which was to last for seven days and seven nights and transform the human race'- it was to involve 'the whole being of every participant'. The ambitions of the Ring seem modest by comparison....

Needless to say, the Mysterium remained a figment of Scriabin's imagination. However, Scriabin did work intensively on the Preparation, a more practical project which would serve as a kind of introduction. Nemtin, in this remarkable achievement of realisation, has created from the original 53 pages of sketches a tripartite monolith lasting nearly three hours. The work calls for massive orchestral and choral forces, a solo piano (expertly played by Alexei Lubimov), organ, and, as in Scriabin's earlier Prometheus, a 'light keyboard'.

The music is of extraordinary intensity and colour, constantly shifting mood and tempo, with some typically Scriabinesque ecstatic climaxes. The musical language does actually sound like late Scriabin- the same kind of unresolved, expectantly sensual harmonies and typically bold trumpet motifs are prevalent- but perhaps here Nemtin extends the suspension of tonality in a way that Scriabin might himself have done had he lived.

The whole experience is quite overwhelming, perhaps too much so to take in the work at one listening. It is ironic that most of us will only get to know the work through the recording, whereas its true impact may only be imaginable in a live performance.

Vladimir Ashkenazy steers his Berlin orchestra with authority through the minefield of tempo and mood changes and the mammoth musical paragraphs- it is a performance which fully does justice to the work and provides a fitting tribute to Alexander Nemtin, who died in 1999.

'Nuances' is a ballet score composed of a collection of Scriabin's late piano pieces, orchestrated by Alexander Nemtin. Once again the orchestration expertly imitates the delicacy and colour of Scriabin's own in a kaleidoscope of mood and colour. The suite provides a good foil for the grandiosity of the Preparation.

For anyone with a fascination for Scriabin, this 3-disc set is a must.

Paul Janes