Topic: Nicholas Medtner

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I keep meaning to try him out, but other more prominent composers always get in the way.

You really ought to (and elbow those others out for an hour or so, Dave!) I really think you'd take to him. He is drier and more severe than Brahms, though (my first impresion)... But as Wanderer says - he rewards repeated listenings.

[Wanderer]

A musicweb review of a very worthwhile recording, originally issued by Chesky. The works included are the op.47 Second Improvisation, the op.56 Sonata-Idylle and the op.39 Vergessene Weisen (second cycle of Forgotten Melodies, the last piece of the set being the Sonata tragica).

[Wanderer]

Ginsburg's 1957 interpretation of Sonata Reminiscenza has been added to the downloads section of www.medtner.org.uk (as well as a number of songs with Dolukhanova).

[DFO]

There's an extraordinary recording of the epique
v.s.by DFO with Alexander Goldenweiser at the
piano, plus a fantastic Catoire's piano trio with
him at the piano with Kogan and Rostropovich.
The label was Dante and it's OOP

[galltywenallt]

There's an extraordinary recording of the epique
v.s.by DFO with Alexander Goldenweiser at the
piano, plus a fantastic Catoire's piano trio with
him at the piano with Kogan and Rostropovich.
The label was Dante and it's OOP

It can be Downloaded from here:
<http://rapidshare.com/files/122928158/Medtner_-_violin_sonata_no_3.zip>

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

It can be Downloaded from here:
<http://rapidshare.com/files/122928158/Medtner_-_violin_sonata_no_3.zip>

That's a nice way to start, galltywenallt! Welcome! And thank you.

(Without the brackets is better, i.e. clickable - http://rapidshare.com/files/122928158/Medtner_-_violin_sonata_no_3.zip)

[galltywenallt]

The Appassionata, in particular. These recordings are well worth seeking out.
Beethoven's Fourth concerto was a speciality of his in concert, but, alas, no recording was ever made. His marvelous cadenzas for it still await a first recording by an adventurous pianist.

The cadenzas can be obtained on a private label (plus all the other cadenzas for Beethoven 4 that pianist Lowenthal could find).  For details go to www.medtner.org.uk/works.html and click on "Two Cadenzas for Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto" at the bottom of the page.  Lowenthal told me that the Medtner cadenzas are his favourites.    

[Wanderer]

The cadenzas can be obtained on a private label (plus all the other cadenzas for Beethoven 4 that pianist Lowenthal could find).  For details go to www.medtner.org.uk/works.html and click on "Two Cadenzas for Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto" at the bottom of the page.  Lowenthal told me that the Medtner cadenzas are his favourites.    

Thanks for the heads-up! And welcome to the forum. 


Edit: Unfortunately, the e-mail address seems to be invalid... 

[Wanderer]

Laurence Kayaleh & Paul Stewart - The Sound of Medtner

[galltywenallt]

Thanks for the heads-up! And welcome to the forum. 

Edit: Unfortunately, the e-mail address seems to be invalid... 

It's fine, I tried it just now and got a reply from Sophia.  mavenace{a}aol.com  replacing {a} by @
(done this way to foil spammers)   

[Wanderer]

It's fine, I tried it just now and got a reply from Sophia. 

Me too; it wouldn't get through the first time.

So, do you have the CD already or are you considering buying it?

[galltywenallt]

Me too; it wouldn't get through the first time.

So, do you have the CD already or are you considering buying it?

I bought it a year ago.  $20 incl shipping to the UK.  I posted Sophia a dollar bill because she doesn't accept credit cards or Paypal and international bank transfers from the UK are expensive.

It's a 2-CD set containing a performance of the concerto with cadenzas by Beethoven, Clara Schumann, Anton Rubinstein, von Bulow, Brahms, Saint-Saens, Busoni, Godowsky, Dohnanyi, Medtner and Rzewski.  Good playing too; Lowenthal deserves to be better known.

[Wanderer]

Good news! Sudbin's next album for BIS will be "a coupling of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.4 in its original version and Medtner’s Piano Concerto No.2" and it "will be released in Spring 2009". No orchestra or conductor are specified.
Since Medtner was the dedicatee of Rachmaninov's Fourth Concerto and Rachmaninov the dedicatee of Medtner's Second, the coupling makes perfect sense. The fact that Sudbin will record the original (longer) version of Rachmaninov's concerto is a further cause for rejoice.

I bought it a year ago.  $20 incl shipping to the UK.  I posted Sophia a dollar bill because she doesn't accept credit cards or Paypal and international bank transfers from the UK are expensive.

It's a 2-CD set containing a performance of the concerto with cadenzas by Beethoven, Clara Schumann, Anton Rubinstein, von Bulow, Brahms, Saint-Saens, Busoni, Godowsky, Dohnanyi, Medtner and Rzewski.  Good playing too; Lowenthal deserves to be better known.

Thanks for the info. It looks like a worthwhile issue which I'll probably investigate at some point. 

[Wanderer]

This recital disc combines solo piano music (8 of the most well known Skazki/Tales, among which March of the Paladin and the sinister Campanella) and lieder (mainly settings of Tioutchev, Pushkin, Lermontov and Goethe), performed by Boris Berezovsky, V.Savenko (bass) and Y.Ivanilova (soprano).

Medtner's lieder, which constitute a significant part of his output (he wrote more than one hundred settings of both Russian and German poetry throughout his career), are multi-faceted, profound works in par with the texts that inspired them. His writing for the voice is very imaginative and colourful, it often resembles a violin and sometimes incorporates vocalise elements. The piano parts are demanding and complex, in constant dialogue with the voice, creating palpable tension and often inexorable drive and momentum.
The disc offers performances of obvious dedication and love; Berezovsky is always impressive in Medtner and both singers are in excellent form, offering the authority and conviction to make these works really sparkle. The interspersing of the skazki among the lieder is particularly inspired.
Warmly recommended.


(brief samples here)

[Wanderer]

Out of the depths of the listening thread, an excellent post by Lethe:

Medtner is just brilliant. In the genres included in these discs, he is equal to other very late Romantics such as Rachmaninoff, Scriabin and Elgar, and his style is his own. I find the music less "overheated" than some of the creations of the other mentioned composers, and due to personal preference I find this trait to be very desirable. His mastery of sonata structure and melodic invention gives his works an intellectual quality (although not academic) in how extremely well knitted together everything is - it's engaging stuff, although perhaps not immediately accessable (I didn't enjoy his concertos at first).

I must say that there are fewer "blazing" themes in evidence than in the previously mentioned composers music, but this is repaid by Medtner's excellent structural qualities, as well as the most effective way in which he uses his material. If the music is not identical to the Romantics of his time, the mood is often very similar - frequently nostalgic and longing, but also with great inner fire. My favourite concerto is #2 at the moment, mainly due to the epic first movement.

[Lethevich]

SonicMan found a nice review which describes Medtner's style far better than my stumbling attempts:

http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/h/hyp66744a.php

[Wanderer]

A ClassicsToday review.

[Wanderer]

A lukewarm ClassicsToday review of Derzhavina's Medtner, with which I agree. These are lyrical, accomplished performances but largely undistinctive. Still, it's good to see more pianists apart from the usual suspects recording these works. Even if this issue can't be recommended as one's first (or second) acquaintance with Medtner, there are still moments of true merit to be found in these recordings.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I have been listening to Tozer's recordings on Chandos (the first two volumes so far). I can't say anything original, apart from saying that I find Medtner a terrific composer. There is so much substance there, you can listen to his music many many times and discover new things at every hearing. Medtner's greatness lies in the paradoxical combination of weight and lightness, the Teutonic and Slavonic are in perfect equilibrium.

Before I started listening to Medtner in earnest a few days ago, I listened to York Bowen (Hough/Hyperion). I really love his music; it is superficially more melodically appealing than Medtner's. But I notice that Medtner gives me a sense of inexhaustibility Bowen doesn't.

[mc ukrneal]

I bought this some months ago, but it never seemed to gel until recently.



I find I need to pay attention with Medtner, and that I cannot use him as background music. I really need to listen. Perhaps with time, I'll be able to listen while doing other things - but not yet. I've grown to like some of this disc and am enjoying the process of learning his music. I recently ordered the piano concerti from Berkshire.