Nikolai Medtner - Goethe Lieder (Susan Gritton; Geoffrey Tozer)

Information

Composer: Nikolai Medtner

• 12 Lieder von Goethe, Op. 15
• 9 Lieder von Goethe, Op. 6
• 6 Gedichte von Goethe, Op. 18: 5. Das Veilchen (Ballade)
• Suite-Vocalise in F minor, Op. 41 No. 2
• Sonate-Vocalise in C major, Op. 41 No. 1

Susan Gritton, soprano

Geoffrey Tozer, piano

Date: 2004

Label: Chandos

https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2010093

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Review

Refreshingly and exceptionally, Medtner im- presses as a composer who writes because he loves the sound of music, and more particularly the sound of music under his own fingers. Similarly, a feeling arises that the remarkable Geoffrey Tozer writes his booklet-notes to this recording primarily because he wants to tell us about this music which, in his turn, he also likes so much. He suggests (wasting no time about it) that we might do best to start listening near the end of the disc: ‘Go straight to the two Vocalises if you want to hear the best of Nicolai Medtner’. Dutiful as ever, I didn’t, but I can see it was good advice. Also rather refreshingly he writes of the Vocalises: ‘There is really not a lot you can say after hearing the suite and sonata together; they are Medtner’s finest works.’

That, of course, is saying ‘a lot’, or seems to be so after listening to the lovely and fascinating Goethe settings. Medtner’s way with each poem is distinctive and personal, like Wolf’s to that extent. On the other hand, where they have chosen the same text, the approach is totally different (Wolf a man who has gone without his dinner, not so Medtner). Like Wolf, Medtner feeds the poem into the piano writing, as into the voice; unlike Medtner, Wolf is too dependent on words to have seriously contemplated writing songs without them.

This suits Susan Gritton very well. She maintains (in this recital more than in most of her work) a very pure vocal line, even and instrumental. Her musical assurance in these difficult songs seems unassailable and her technique is masterly. It’s all a little impersonal, however: the emotional warmth she brings to Das Veilchen something of an exception. By contrast, Tozer’s piano playing, like the writing itself, is fully committed as an expression of the emotions and the personality. Perhaps this kind of balance or duality is implicit in the compositions (though surely it was not so in the famous Schwarzkopf-Medtner recordings). Whatever the answer to this, there is no doubt in my mind that the recital is an enlightening and delightful addition to the catalogue.

-- John Steane, Gramophone

More reviews:
https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/apr04/Medtner_Goethe.htm

https://www.classical-music.com/reviews/medtner-12

https://www.amazon.com/Suite-Vocalise-Sonata-Goethe-Lieder/dp/B0001IXRRY

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Nikolai Medtner (5 January 1880 [O.S. 24 December 1879] – 13 November 1951) was a Russian composer and pianist. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory from 1891 to 1900, having studied under Pavel Pabst, Wassily Sapellnikoff, Vasily Safonov and Sergei Taneyev among others. His works include 14 piano sonatas, three violin sonatas, three piano concerti, a piano quintet, two works for two pianos, many shorter piano pieces, a few shorter works for violin and piano, and 108 songs including two substantial works for vocalise. His 38 Skazki for piano solo contain some of his most original music.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Medtner

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Susan Gritton (born 31 August 1965) is an English operatic soprano. She was born in Reigate, Surrey, and was educated at the University of Oxford and the University of London, where she studied Botany. Gritton was the 1994 winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Award and has sung leading roles in a wide-ranging repertoire from Handel and Mozart to Britten, Janáček and Strauss. On the concert platform her work spans many periods and styles. A Grammy nominated artist, she has recorded prolifically for Chandos, Hyperion, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, Decca, Philips and Collins Classics among others.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Gritton

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Geoffrey Tozer (5 November 1954 – 21 August 2009) was an Australian classical pianist and composer. He studied with Eileen Ralf and Keith Humble in Australia, Maria Curcio in England and Theodore Lettvin in the United States. His career included tours of Europe, America, Australia and China, where he performed the Yellow River Concerto to an estimated audience of 80 million people. Tozer had more than 100 concertos in his repertoire, including those of Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Medtner, Rachmaninoff, Bartók, Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Gerhard. He recorded for the Chandos label.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Tozer

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