Medtner: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 (The Romantic Piano Concerto 2)

Featuring

Nikolai Demidenko
Jerzy Maksymiuk
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Nikolai Medtner

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Like Chopin, Medtner expressed himself almost exclusively through the piano, knowing how to invest a miniature with large-scale tension and generate a grand design.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Medtner's famous Skazki or 'Legends' ('Fairy Tales') are described as mercurial, fantastical, Russianized narratives of the soul, unique in the repertoire for their sheer originality.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Medtner's music is characterized by its absolute independence from contemporary trends, with Sorabji noting that he was so intent on his own way that he was 'simply unconscious' of current fashions.

Performer Biography

Nikolai Demidenko, the pianist on this recording, studied at the Moscow Conservatoire and is a medallist of the 1976 Concours International de Montreal and the 1978 Tchaikovsky International Competition.

Composer Biography

Nikolai Medtner, a Russian composer of German descent, studied at the Moscow Conservatoire and graduated in 1900 with the prestigious Anton Rubinstein Prize.

Composer Biography

Medtner, a recluse who shunned publicity, was admired as a formidable pianist and held important teaching appointments at the Moscow Conservatoire.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Medtner was considered a 'firm defender of the sacred laws of eternal art' and was steeped in Teutonic Tradition, with one critic calling him 'the first real, actual Beethoven in Russia'.