What are you listening 2 now?

[Wanderer]

Only if there's an oracle with a REALLY perverse sense of humour.

Is there any other kind?   

[Madiel]

I think I explained why. The sonatas aren't random, they're a poetic response to Goethe's tripartite arc. Maybe you were expecting an answer different/more straightforward than Romantic, musical and literary, symbolism.

Given that you asserted they were separate works, yes I kind of did. You seem to be trying to have it both ways after you firmly came down as saying that Idagio was wrong to put them together.

[Wanderer]

In order save her, maybe? 

And I believe it's also a given that gods going incognito among mortals is the standard modus operandi in mythic narratives. 

[Wanderer]

...after you firmly came down as saying that Idagio was wrong to put them together.

You're grasping at a false dichotomy. It's obvious they were wrong to put them together in one track - both for the reasons I gave and for not following the tracks on the CD. Idagio's glitch further obscures the distinct-yet-interdependent structure of Medtner's poetic triad (à la Goethe's arc) - all already explained. You seem not to have grasped what I wrote: it's Romantic unity through distinction, not, as you're treating it, a reductive binary.

I thought that via this exchange you were seeking information, but it seems it's confrontation via straw men. Enjoy the sonatas either way: they're superb standalone or cycled.

[Wanderer]

[Que]

[Madiel]

It's obvious they were wrong to put them together in one track

Ah.

I never said one track. Because it's not one track. It's three. Maybe you're not familiar with how Idagio works.

EDIT: As for seeking information... I never asked a question in the first place, so I don't quite know how that line of thinking developed either. I am certainly trying to understand your point of view, but I didn't ask for it.

You might think that what you're saying is so obvious that I couldn't possibly not understand it and so you're ascribing other motives to me, but having now established you're working from an inaccurate premise, that in and of itself is an explanation of why I"m not just saying "oh yes of course" in response.

Idagio has in fact taken exactly the same approach to grouping op.11 as Hyperion does on the source CD.

[Madiel]

Medtner

Three Heine poems, op.12
Two (Russian) poems, op.13



Unfortunately I just don't like Ekaterina Levental's voice enough to buy this series. Eventually I'll work out how much coverage of the songs is provided by other options.

[Traverso]

Mozart

pianoconcertos 23 & 27

Can there be music with more tender sadness than in the andante from the Piano Concerto No. 23?

[Papy Oli]

Beethoven

String quartets op.95 and op.127, no.11 & 12.

Quartetto Italiano

[Madiel]

Poulenc: Bleuet.

This might be one of Poulenc's most affecting songs. I didn't intend to give it its own entry in the thread, but... it's achingly beautiful, especially with Apollinaire's words in front of me. A World War One poem, and a song written in 1939.

[Madiel]

Poulenc: Mélancolie



Apparently I've not listened to this for over a decade. How silly of me.

[Florestan]

Can there be music with more tender sadness than in the andante from the Piano Concerto No. 23?

Otomh, the central section of Chopin's Scherzo n B minor Op.20.

Schubert's Staendchen (Leise flehen meine Lieder) has always evoked to me exactly this mood: tender sadness (especially in Liszt's piano transcription).

[Todd]

D537.

[hopefullytrusting]

Today's Op. 1 is by Carl Czerny, and boy is it substantial - coming in at nearly 30 minutes aka symphony length - his Concertante Variations on a theme by Jean Baptiste Krumpholz for Violin (Raum) and Piano (Kuerti):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyeMhqspa2Q

Doing no research, Gemini approximates his age around 13 when this was composed, which seems accurate given the YouTube description. A set of variations seems like an excellent place to start for a young composer - homage - patronage - demonstration of skill - ability to improvise - just some of the skills one can show off in this type of composition - all of which a young composer would need to stand out, although, Czerny did have Beethoven backing him, so I imagine that helped a little as well (but probably hurt in posterity).

The piece is a gem, but it is exploratory in a restricted sense. It is not trying to discover new soundscapes; it is only trying to discover how far one can get away from the theme and still have that theme count as a variation - a noble pursuit, a scholarly pursuit, but you won't find anything earth-shaking or -shattering here - just good, solid music. Music with a solid foundation in classical practice. Music equal to what a young Beethoven might have produced (in fact, it would not surprise me if Beethoven forced him down this path given Beethoven's own).

The only daring part, from my perspective, is the length, and it is daring because you are asking a lot of anyone to sit there and listen to some relative nobody's music. This is why I find all the creative arts so interesting because they all demand attention, at first, with no backing or grounding, and as someone rooted in argumentation - I find that endlessly fascinating. Although, this might been part of a showcase, with the composer playing the works of more famous composers and then including this work amongst them to show that while not their equal that he was well on his way - that seems plausible to me, especially given that he was, if I recall, an excellent pianist.

In short, I highly recommend this if you want something enjoyable, inoffensive, and nice. It is very lovely.

[Todd]

D568.

[brewski]

From 2016, the magnificent Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra in Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings, in a beautifully filmed document that not only shows off the players' expertise, but also the hall and its resonance.

[Harry]

Mieczyslaw Weinberg.
CD III.
Violinsonaten Nr.1&6.
Three pieces.
Linus Roth, Jose Gallardo.

A wonderful close of this box. Pristine performances and well recorded.

[Mandryka]

Today's Op. 1 is by Carl Czerny, and boy is it substantial - coming in at nearly 30 minutes aka symphony length - his Concertante Variations on a theme by Jean Baptiste Krumpholz for Violin (Raum) and Piano (Kuerti):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyeMhqspa2Q

Doing no research, Gemini approximates his age around 13 when this was composed, which seems accurate given the YouTube description. A set of variations seems like an excellent place to start for a young composer - homage - patronage - demonstration of skill - ability to improvise - just some of the skills one can show off in this type of composition - all of which a young composer would need to stand out, although, Czerny did have Beethoven backing him, so I imagine that helped a little as well (but probably hurt in posterity).

The piece is a gem, but it is exploratory in a restricted sense. It is not trying to discover new soundscapes; it is only trying to discover how far one can get away from the theme and still have that theme count as a variation - a noble pursuit, a scholarly pursuit, but you won't find anything earth-shaking or -shattering here - just good, solid music. Music with a solid foundation in classical practice. Music equal to what a young Beethoven might have produced (in fact, it would not surprise me if Beethoven forced him down this path given Beethoven's own).

The only daring part, from my perspective, is the length, and it is daring because you are asking a lot of anyone to sit there and listen to some relative nobody's music. This is why I find all the creative arts so interesting because they all demand attention, at first, with no backing or grounding, and as someone rooted in argumentation - I find that endlessly fascinating. Although, this might been part of a showcase, with the composer playing the works of more famous composers and then including this work amongst them to show that while not their equal that he was well on his way - that seems plausible to me, especially given that he was, if I recall, an excellent pianist.

In short, I highly recommend this if you want something enjoyable, inoffensive, and nice. It is very lovely.

This is very much how I felt about the nonet which I listened to for the first time earlier this week.

[Wanderer]

Ah.

Ah, indeed.

Your framing of what you now reveal to be track-bundling as something irregular (when it's actually no different than the CD) did not help convey what you wanted it to mean. Maybe you should've been clearer instead of snarkier.

As for "seeking info": "I never asked" ignores how your "rightly or wrongly" and "wondering why" posts read as prompts for explanation in a discussion thread. In a public forum like this, we often chime in on potential clarifications or misunderstandings for the wider community's sake and Medtner gets very little discussion here as it is (thanks for ruining that, btw). And I'd assume that Goethe's literary source for the works would mean more to you than deflections on track-bundling if you were conversing with a modicum of good faith and didn't want ungracious motives ascribed to you.

Enjoy your Medtner journey, hopefully with more eye for discussion and less for confrontation.