Information
Composer: Nikolai Medtner; Sergei Rachmaninov
- Medtner - Two Pieces, Op. 58
- Rachmaninov - Suite No. 2, Op. 17
- Rachmaninov - Russian Rhapsody, Op. posth.
- Rachmaninov - Symphonic Dances, Op. 45
Dmitri Alexeev & Nikolai Demidenko. pianos
Date: 1993/2009
Label: Hyperion
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This beautifully planned and executed disc fills one with a special sense of warmth and gratitude. For not only were Medtner and Rachmaninov friends (and their friendship survived Rachmaninov's immense popularity and Medtner's obscurity) but Alexeev and Demidenko, no less Russians to their fingertips—are also friends and co-students of Dmitri Bashkirov. How magnificently they set out to redress the balance and proclaim Medtner's wholly individual genius (''The Moscow nights, the Russian springs, the basilicas and bards of his young manhood, such was his heritage, a chalice of dreams and memories to hold for always''), separating each strand of his intricate and vivacious arguments. Naturally, all Medtner-lovers—and they are now gratifyingly many—will want to hear the composer's own legendary partnership with Moiseiwitsch recently reissued by EMI, but Alexeev and Demidenko run it close.
Moving to slightly more familiar ground, how Rachmaninov relishes the two-piano medium in his Russian Rhapsody, exploiting added resource and glitter for all they are worth. And it would be a poor Russian emigre who did not find his eyes pricking at this timeless evocation of custom and festivity. The Symphonic Dances, too, are no less finely played. Try the poco a poco accelerando at 6'37'' in No. 2 (tempo di valse) and note, also, how Alexeev and Demidenko are as remarkable when lost in bittersweet reflection as they are in dazzling virtuosity. Few could respond more intensely to that endless protracted sigh at 8'24'' in the finale. The Second Suite is also a major success even if the ''Romance'' is a trifle cool and uninflected. And while the ''Valse'' is admirably fleet and assured it hardly erases memories of Argerich and Freire on Philips (a performance that rides high on anyone's list of pianistic wizardry, 10/83—nla). By comparison Alexeev and Demidenko are too plain-sailing. But, more generally, let nothing deter you from this disc which is, overall, a marvel of precision and commitment, very finely recorded.
-- Bryce Morrison, Gramophone
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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.
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Sergei Rachmaninov (1 April [O.S. 20 March] 1873 – 28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. He is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music. His music was influenced by Tchaikovsky, Arensky and Taneyev. Rachmaninov wrote five works for piano and orchestra: four concertos and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. He also composed a number of works for orchestra alone, including three symphonies, the Symphonic Dances Op. 45, and four symphonic poems.
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Dmitri Alexeev (born 10 August 1947 in Moscow) is a Russian pianist. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory, and additionally under Dmitri Bashkirov. In the 1970s, Alexeev made his debuts in London, Vienna, Chicago, and New York City, and also won the Leeds Piano Competition in 1975. As of 2010, he was teaching at the Royal College of Music in London and is represented by IMG Artists. Alexeev's repertoire, part of which has been recorded, includes works by Alexander Scriabin, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Sergei Prokofiev, Frédéric Chopin, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Dmitri Shostakovich.
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Nikolai Demidenko (born 1 July 1955) is a Russian-born classical pianist. He studied at the Gnessin State Musical College with Anna Kantor and at the Moscow Conservatoire under Dmitri Bashkirov. He taught at the Yehudi Menuhin School in the UK, where he has been a resident since 1990. In addition to a vast amount of the standard Germanic and Russian repertory, Demidenko is a specialist of Frédéric Chopin and a noted champion of the works of neglected composers such as Muzio Clementi, Carl Maria von Weber, Jan Václav Voříšek, and Nikolai Medtner. His extensive discography consists of nearly 40 CDs.
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