The Koroliov Series, Vol. 26: Russian Music

Featuring

Evgeni Koroliov
Alexander Scriabin
Nikolai Medtner
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Sergei Prokofiev

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Performer Biography

Evgeni Koroliov, the pianist on this album, was a student at the legendary Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, where his teachers included Heinrich Neuhaus, Maria Yudina, Lev Oborin, and Lev Naumov.

Historical Context

Russian music of the late 19th and early 20th century was characterized by a tension between developing a national style and aligning with Western Art Music.

Historical Context

After the October Revolution of 1917 and under Stalin's rule, the debate over musical aesthetics intensified, pitting European-style New Music (called 'formalism') against 'socialist realism,' which demanded folksy, understandable, and progressive music.

Performer Biography

Composer György Ligeti was a great admirer of Evgeni Koroliov's playing, stating that if he could only take one work to a desert island, he would choose Koroliov's Bach.

Composer Biography

Alexander Scriabin, a composer featured on this album, was a cosmopolitan who moved confidently in both Russian and Western music scenes and developed a syncretic art theory inspired by theosophy, making him a guru in intellectual circles before World War I.

Recording & Production

This album was recorded at Sendesaal Bremen in multiple sessions between June 2021 and May 2022, with some tracks recorded earlier in 1992 at Festeburgkirche Frankfurt.

Composition History

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's 'October' from his cycle The Seasons was a commissioned work for a music magazine, with a new piece appearing each month for a year.