Mikhail Glinka, considered the Father of Russian Music, influenced every subsequent Russian musician and composed the first Russian works in various genres, including two operas and a symphonic piece.
Compositional Technique
Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Sonata, presented here in its 1931 revised version, is shorter and features a compositional technique of developing material in small fragments, similar to Medtner's style.
Critical Reception
Nikolai Medtner's music is not widely known, despite his 'Sonata Reminiscenza' being quite popular, and Rachmaninoff considered him the finest composer of his day.
Interpretation
Pianist Alexander Malofeev finds Medtner's music particularly engaging to learn and practice, describing it as an "exploration" where "every bar is a research."
Composer Biography
Alexander Glazunov, unlike Rachmaninoff, did not fully emigrate from Russia, often traveling for health reasons, and was a child prodigy who became Principal of the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
Album & Artwork
This album features four Russian-born composers—Glinka, Glazunov, Rachmaninoff, and Medtner—who all emigrated and died far from their native country.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Pianist Alexander Malofeev believes the four composers on this album share a common "feeling of nostalgia" for a dream world that never truly existed.
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