Medtner Piano

This collection spotlights six legendary pianist-composers from the 19th and 20th centuries. Adolf von Henselt’s ferocious technical studies and Romantic salon pieces led Schumann to dub him ‘the Chopin of the North’. Polish virtuoso Ignaz Friedman’s works offer delightful melodic beauty and harmonic inventiveness set alongside works by his countryman, Józef Hofmann, renowned as a poet of the keyboard. The French master musician Alfred Cortot is represented here with a selection of stylish piano arrangements of works by great composers. As one of Finland’s most respected musicians during the early 20th century, Selim Palmgren displays a wide variety of technical and stylistic challenges with music that is both traditional and visionary; while music by the exiled Russian composer Nikolay Medtner is highly Romantic and spiritually charged. These six towering superstars represent the summit of the piano’s Romantic golden age, heard here in critically acclaimed performances by award-winning pianists.

Earning praise for his commanding technique, elegant sound and wide-ranging repertoire, Russian Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev was quickly signed to Decca Classics, following his declaration at the Sydney International Piano Competition, where he was also an audience favourite. He has curated an all-Russian album: Rachmaninov (including the Moment-musicaux, which he performed so gloriously at the Competition), Medtner, Scriabin, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky. The album also includes two Concert Études by his late grandmother – Tatiana Nikolayeva.

Russian composer Nikolai Medtner left behind an amazing body of works for solo piano. This is the first volume in what will be an integral recorded edition of Medtner's solo piano works, performed by Frank Huang. Frank Huang is a Steinway Artist and currently serves as an Associate Professor of Piano at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. Previously, he was a faculty member at The College of Wooster and The Cleveland Institute of Music. Described by New York Concert Review as a "thoughtful and accomplished performer" and that his playing was "impressive for it's maturity and refinement," Mr. Huang has gained international recognition for his artistry and technical command.

Russian composer Nikolai Medtner left behind an amazing body of works for solo piano. This is the first volume in what will be an integral recorded edition of Medtner's solo piano works, performed by Frank Huang. Frank Huang is a Steinway Artist and currently serves as an Associate Professor of Piano at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. Previously, he was a faculty member at The College of Wooster and The Cleveland Institute of Music. Described by New York Concert Review as a "thoughtful and accomplished performer" and that his playing was "impressive for it's maturity and refinement," Mr. Huang has gained international recognition for his artistry and technical command.

Of the 14 piano sonatas composed by the Russian composer Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951), Canadian pianist Benjamin Bertin has selected the last three sonatas for his ATMA Classique debut album. These sonatas represent a contrasting and fascinating portrait of the mature composer at the peak of his powers. In terms of ingenuity of form, diversity of mood and character, and overall mastery of craft, these final works are akin to those of Beethoven, who inspired Medtner throughout his life.

On this record, the playing's the thing. A lesser pianist could hardly hold the listener's interest in these sonatas by Scriabin (who had messianic delusions) and Medtner (who never found much recognition outside Russia), or meet the Herculean demands of the Stravinsky pieces. Scriabin's Preludes are charming, poetic, dreamy miniatures of contrasting tempo and character; the Sonata's corner movements are dramatic and fiery, the second surges, the third is lyrical and atmospheric…

Medtner’s 14 piano sonatas, the most significant achievement in this genre by any major composer since Beethoven, span his career. The Sonata-Ballade explores a tempestuous musical allegory – the triumph of Light over Darkness, of Faith over Doubt; while the Sonata in A minor is cast in a single, terse movement, with folkloric elements and frequent use of bell-like features that exude Russianness. By contrast, the ‘Night Wind’ Sonata is a monumental epic of exceptional complexity that stunned Rachmaninov and led composer and critic Sorabji to call it ‘the greatest piano sonata of modern times.’