Alexander Kamensky plays Scriabin Etude op. 8 no. 12 - video 1947

Alexander Kamensky playing various pieces by Scriabin*. This unfortunately very brief footage comes from the 1947 Russian war film For those who are at Sea (За тех, кто в море). Although Kamensky plays the entire time, he’s shown only at the beginning and at 03:52 (the sound of this last one at least is uninterrupted). Kamensky (1900-1952) studied with Nikolai Dubasov, Felix Blumenfeld and Leonid Nikolayev. During the Leningrad Blockade he remained in the city, giving recitals and many broadcasts on the radio. Later he was remembered for his ’spiritual strength, courage and duty’ during that time. For those reasons, one of the screenwriters of this film, Boris Lavrenyov, insisted that Kamensky takes the part in place of another pianist who had been chosen already. Kamensky is also remembered as a modern pianist, introducing audiences to many western composers in the 1920s, and playing both early Soviet repertoire and neglected composers of the Baroque period. He was known for his transcriptions of arias -- an
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