Nikolai Medtner - Piano Works (Ekaterina Derzhavina)

Information

Composer: Nikolai Medtner

CD1:

• Stimmungsbilder, Op. 1
• Sonata Triad, Op. 11
• Three Pieces, Op. 31

CD2:

• Forgotten Melodies, Op. 38
• Forgotten Melodies, Op. 39

Ekaterina Derzhavina, piano

Date: 2008

Label: Phoenix Edition

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 7 / SOUND QUALITY: 9

Ekaterina Derzhavina’s Palexa recording of the Medtner Op. 1 Stimmungsbilder improved as it progressed, culminating in strong, supple, and well-characterized accounts of the final four pieces. Her studio remake benefits from a superior instrument and world-class sonics, plus subtler layers of nuance and textural differentiation on the pianist’s part. Derzhavina’s generally robust and emphatic pianism convinces most when Medtner’s music takes on wistful, somber overtones, as in the D minor Sonata-Elegie, the Marche Funébre from the Op. 31 Three Pieces, and the first of the Op. 39 Forgotten Melodies. However, Marc-André Hamelin’s astonishing keyboard proficiency, lighter touch, and classical poise impart far more shape and tonal variety to both Forgotten Melodies cycles, as even the most superficial and fleeting comparisons bear out. In sum, Stimmungsbilder alone merits my unqualified recommendation, but this may not be enough to justify purchase of this release as a whole, especially if you already have Hamelin.

-- Jed Distler, ClassicsToday

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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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Ekaterina Derzhavina (born 8 September 1967 in Moscow) is a Russian pianist and teacher. She studied at the Gnessins Moscow Music School, then at the Gnessins Russian Music Academy, where she taught in the piano department from 1993 until 2006. Since 2003 she has been a Professor at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory. Derzhavina has appeared in such concert halls as the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Place des Arts in Montreal and many other renowned venues. She has also given master-classes in Germany, Russia, the USA, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom and New Zealand.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jekaterina_Wladimirowna_Derschawina

http://ekaterinaderzhavina.com/

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