Medtner - 14 Piano Sonatas (Many performers)

“I repeat what I said to you back in Russia: you are, in my opinion, the greatest composer of our time.“ – Sergei Rachmaninov (1921) It would be hard to overestimate the importance of this set. The 14 Medtner’s piano Sonatas are the peak of the great Russian romanticism. Musically, technically and intellectually his works are very difficult, and don’t show-off, which may explain their neglect. Born on December 24, 1879 according to the Julian calendar (in use in Russia at that time), Nikolai Medtner was a few years younger than Rachmaninoff and Scriabin, who had long overshadowed him before his music was the object a new craze, thanks in particular to the interpretations of pianists like Emil Gilels and more recently Geoffrey Tozer, Marc André Hamelin, Hamish Milne and Severin von Eckardstein, who allow a new rediscovery of Medtner’s music these years. Recitalist and concertist, Medtner was also a professor at the Moscow Conservatory but chose to leave Soviet Russia in 1921. He lived in the United States then in Paris and finally settled in London, where he died. He had the extravagant good fortune to arouse the enthusiasm of the Maharajah of Mysore (in the state of Karnataka, India), who allowed him to record his own compositions. Most of Medtner’s works (fourteen sonatas, three concertos, chamber music works, melodies) are intended for the piano or use the piano. To put it quickly, they show romanticism, nostalgia, passion, tragic, violence (not brutal though). Medtner never recognized himself in the research carried out by his contemporaries, as he explained in his book The Muse and Fashion (1935) where he defends “the sacred laws of Eternal Art“. Sonata in F Minor, Op. 5 Tozer : 00:00​ - I. Allegro 11:44​ - II. Intermezzo: Allegro 15:00​ - III. Largo 22:49​ - IV. Finale: Allegro risoluto Debargue : 30:50​ - I. Allegro 43:25​ - II. Intermezzo: Allegro 49:07​ - III. Largo 57:57​ - IV. Finale: Allegro risoluto Sonata Triade, Op. 11 Tozer : 1:05:59​ - I. Piano Sonata in A-Flat Major 1:15:07 - II. Piano Sonata in D Minor, “Elegy“ 1:21:47 - ​III. Piano Sonata in C Major Sonata in G Minor, Op. 22 1:30:18 - Emil Gilels 1:46:44 - Hamish Milne 2:03:32 - Geoffrey Tozer Sonata Skazka, Op. 25 No. 1 Tozer : 2:22:35 - I. Allegro abbandonamente 2:27:26 - II. Andantino con moto 2:30:49 - III. Allegro con spirito Sonata “Night Wind“, Op 25 No. 2 Ponochevny : 2:34:48 - I. Introduzione : Andante con moto 2:37:03 - II. Allegro 2:49:45 - III. Tempo dell’introduzione 2:52:14 - IV. Allegro molto sfrenatamente, presto 3:00:48 - V. Quasi cadenza Tozer : 3:06:43 - I. Introduzione: Andante con moto 3:09:12 - II. Allegro 3:23:34 - III. Tempo dell’introduzione 3:26:15 - IV. Allegro molto sfrenatamente, presto 3:35:19 - V. Quasi cadenza Eckardstein : 3:41:48​ - I. Introduzione: Andante con moto 3:44:26​ - II. Allegro 3:57:22​ - III. Tempo dell’introduzione 4:00:07​ - IV. Allegro molto sfrenatamente, presto 4:08:19​ - V. Quasi cadenza Sonata Ballade, Op. 27 Tozer : 4:14:28 - I. Allegretto​ 4:24:07 - II. Introduzione: Mesto​ 4:27:14 - III. Finale: Allegro​ Eckardstein : 4:35:21 - I. Allegretto​ 4:44:56 - II. Introduzione: Mesto 4:48:16 - III. Finale: Allegro​ Milne : 4:56:21 - I. Allegretto​ 5:07:06 - II. Introduzione: Mesto​ 5:10:56 - III. Finale: Allegro​ Medtner : 5:21:07 - I. Allegretto ​ 5:31:32 - II. Introduzione: Mesto ​ 5:34:45 - III. Finale: Allegro Sonata in A Minor “War“, Op. 30 5:44:12 - Eckardstein 5:56:57 - Milne 6:11:34 - Tozer Sonata Reminiscenza, Op. 38 No. 1 6:25:37​ - Kissin 6:41:45​ - Berezovsky 6:53:27​ - Tozer Sonata Tragica, Op. 39 No. 5 7:06:18 - Tozer 7:15:45 - Tozer (2) 7:25:22 - Sudbin Sonata Romantica Op. 53 No. 1 Tozer : 7:34:41 - I. Romanza. Andantino con moto, ma sempre espressivo 7:41:56 - II. Scherzo. Allegro 7:47:18 - III. Meditation. Andante con moto 7:50:41 - IV. Finale. Allegro non troppo Gvozdetsky : 7:58:56 - I. Romanza. Andantino con moto, ma sempre espressivo 8:06:57 - II. Scherzo. Allegro 8:11:29 - III. Meditation. Andante con moto 8:16:09 - IV. Finale. Allegro non troppo Sonata Minacciosa, Op. 53 No. 2 Milne : 8:23:37 - I. Allegro sostenuto, concentrando 8:25:54 - II. L’istesso tempo (ma con entusiasmo) 8:31:37 - III. Fuga: Sempre al rigore di tempo 8:34:29 - IV. Tempo I, concentrando 8:36:01 - V. A tempo (con entusiasme) 8:39:22 - VI. Coda: Sempre animato (al rigore di tempo) Tozer : 8:41:19 - I. Allegro sostenuto, concentrando ​ 8:43:36 - II. L’istesso tempo (ma con entusiasmo) 8:49:55 - III. Fuga: Sempre al rigore di tempo 8:52:36 - IV. Tempo I, concentrando 8:54:08 - V. A tempo (con entusiasme) 8:57:02 - VI. Coda: Sempre animato (al rigore di tempo) Sonata Idylle, Op. 56 Tozer : 8:58:54​ - I. Pastorale : allegretto cantabile 9:03:19 - II. Allegro moderato e cantabile Wild : 9:11:09​ - I. Pastorale : allegretto cantabile 9:14:25​ - II. Allegro moderato e cantabile #medtner #piano #sheetmusic