Lewenthals's own (circa 1955) liner notes:

Lewenthals's own (circa 1955) liner notes:
" Scriabin's 24 Preludes,Op.11, were, no doubt,inspired by Chopin's, but they have their own charm and poetry.Salon music some of them, but would that we heard such music in salons these days! "

"Some are slightly naughty;there is a certain indolent grace;the delightful occupation of doing nothing.Some, looking innocuous enough on paper, are very demons when aroused...gentlemanly demons,but none the less demons.Some have the true bardic ring and some are a little sentimental.Such are the enchanting sounds we should like to hear when,walking in a strange street on a summer evening, we suddenly hear the elegant,cool tones of a distant piano..."

"The Fantasie is true concert-grand piano music of immense grandeur and sweep...in art a superabundance of enthusiasm is certainly preferable to a lack of it,for time can mellow and temper a surfeit,but it cannot put enthusiasm where it never existed before..."

"Demonism had for Scriabin as great an appeal as it had for Liszt...Vers la Flamme is one of those keyboard works which demonstrate the piano's immense powers of evoking the entire orchestra.Transfer it to the orchestra and it would lose its tremendous impact..."

" In his later works Scriabin was fond of strewing extravagant interpretative indications thru the printed score.Fanatstic as they often seem at first, they are an aid to the player in evoking the mood the composer wants. "Douloureux dechirant " he writes for the first of the Op.74 Preludes,and the piece seems to be the sad shreds of humanity torn asundert by the catastrophe (WW I ). No.2, "Tres Lent contemplatif" the numbness of one deep in thought.In the midst of No.3 he writes "comme un cri"--like a shriek of remembrance.No.4, "Lent,vague,indecis"--slow,vague,undecided.No.5, "Fier,belliquez"--proud,warlike. A phoenix rising from the ashes."