Nikolai Medtner - Songs (Ludmilla Andrew; Geoffrey Tozer)

Information

Composer: Nikolai Medtner

1. Night, Op. 36, No. 5
2. I loved you, Op. 32, No. 4
3. Winter Evening, Op. 13, No. 1
4. The Raven, Op. 52, No. 2
5. The Rose, Op. 29, No. 6
6. Spanish Romance, Op. 52, No. 5
7. Elegy, Op. 52, No. 3
8. Serenade, Op. 52, No. 3
9. The Angel, Op. 1b
10. Butterfly, Op. 28, No. 3
11. I cannot hear that bird, Op. 28, No. 2
12. In the chuchyard, Op. 28, No. 4
13. Eight Songs, Op. 24: 1. Day and Night
14. Eight Songs, Op. 24: 2. Willow, why forever bending
15. Eight Songs, Op. 24: 3. Sea-swell and Memories
16. Eight Songs, Op. 24: 4. Twilight
17. Eight Songs, Op. 24: 5. O'er thee bend
18. Eight Songs, Op. 24: 6. When my glances thy smile chance to meet
19. Eight Songs, Op. 24: 7. Whispering, nature faintly stirring
20. Eight Songs, Op. 24: 8. I have to come to bear thee tidings
21. Noon, Op. 59, No. 1
22. Spring Calm, Op. 28, No. 5
23. Sleepless, Op. 37, No. 1

Ludmilla Andrew, soprano

Geoffrey Tozer, piano

Date: 1994

Label: Chandos

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Review

Musical Opinion, reviewing the newly published Op. 52 in 1931, concluded that, ''very accomplished musician'' as he undoubtedly was, Medtner could hardly be considered ''a born song writer'': ''These restless, feverish compositions with their incessant chromaticism and modulations are essentially unvocal, though they are dramatic and rhapsodical enough.'' It says something for the achievement of Ludmilla Andrew on this record that the 'unvocal' character of Medtner's writing is hardly evident at all, though, to be fair, the first three songs from Op. 52 are perhaps the very ones in which the voice is most hard-pressed and in which it is even possible to feel that they might do very well as piano solos. In the fourth, the ''Serenade'' (No. 6 in the set), the piano part is an accompaniment, and the singer brings to it a charm and delicacy worthy of its dedicatee, Nina Koshetz.

''We may add [said Musical Opinion] that a pianist who would essay the accompaniments would have to practise hard.'' Geoffrey Tozer has evidently practised to good effect (he is in any case a highly experienced Medtner pianist, as his recordings of the concertos and solo works on Chandos – 4/92 and 11/92 – testify). His playing of ''Winter Evening'', with its evocative rustling start, is superb; but always, along with the sheer virtuosity, there is a responsive feeling for mood and coloration. In his written notes he mentions critics who complain that Medtner's songs are ''sonatas in disguise'', and the balance of recording might have helped to stifle such objections if it had allowed the singer more presence. Certainly there are songs in which the piano takes over (the fifth of Op. 24, for instance). Yet in many the interest is evenly distributed, and these – the last three of the present recital – are among the most delightful in the repertoire, and, as it happens, the very opposite of ''feverish'' and ''restless''.'

-- 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.

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

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Ludmilla Andrew (Vancouver, 1930 – London, 10 August 2019) was a Canadian soprano. She spent the first ten years of her career based in Canada, then moved to London in 1965, making her first appearance at Sadler's Wells in Madam Butterfly. Andrew appeared with Welsh National Opera as Abigaille in Nabucco. Her repertoire also included Aïda and Tosca. Andrew made several concert appearances in the early years of Opera Rara when little known operas by Donizetti were being revived. After retirement from singing she continued her association with the company as language coach and on the Board.

http://operascotland.org/person/1123/Ludmilla-Andrew

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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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