Hamelin: Medtner – Complete Piano Sonatas, Forgotten Melodies (4 CD box set, APE)

Performer: Marc-André Hamelin
Composer: Nikolai Medtner
Audio CD
SPARS Code: DDD
Number of Discs: 4
Format: APE (tracks)
Label: Hyperion
Size: 764 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes

# Piano Sonata in F minor, Op. 5
Composed by Nikolay Medtner
with Marc-Andre Hamelin

# Fairy Tales (Märchen) (2) for piano, Op. 8
Composed by Nikolay Medtner
with Marc-Andre Hamelin

# Sonaten-Triade, sonatas (3) for piano, Op. 11
Composed by Nikolay Medtner
with Marc-Andre Hamelin

# Piano Sonata in G minor, Op. 22
Composed by Nikolay Medtner
with Marc-Andre Hamelin

# Fairy Tale Sonata (Sonata-Skazka) for piano in C minor, Op. 25/1
Composed by Nikolay Medtner
with Marc-Andre Hamelin

# Piano Sonata in E minor (“Night Wind”) Op. 25/2
Composed by Nikolay Medtner
with Marc-Andre Hamelin

# Sonata-Ballada for piano in F sharp major, Op. 27
Composed by Nikolay Medtner
with Marc-Andre Hamelin

# Piano Sonata in A minor, Op. 30
Composed by Nikolay Medtner
with Marc-Andre Hamelin

# Forgotten Melodies (Vergessene Weisen) (8) for piano Volume 1, Op. 38
Composed by Nikolay Medtner
with Marc-Andre Hamelin

# Forgotten Melodies (Vergessene Weisen) (5) for piano Volume 2, Op. 39
Composed by Nikolay Medtner
with Marc-Andre Hamelin

# Sonata romantica for piano in B flat minor, Op. 53/1
Composed by Nikolay Medtner
with Marc-Andre Hamelin

# Sonata minacciosa for piano in F minor, Op.53/2
Composed by Nikolay Medtner
with Marc-Andre Hamelin

# Sonata-Idylle for piano in G major, Op. 56
Composed by Nikolay Medtner
with Marc-Andre Hamelin

Disc: 1
01. Sonata In F Minor Op. 5: Allegro
02. Sonata In F Minor Op. 5: Intermezzo: Allegro
03. Sonata In F Minor Op. 5: Largo divoto
04. Sonata In F Minor Op. 5: Finale: Allegro risoluto
05. Zwei Marchen Op. 8: Andantino
06. Zwei Marchen Op. 8: Allegro
07. Sonaten-Triade Op. 11: No. 1 In A Flat Major
08. Sonaten-Triade Op. 11: No. 2 In D Minor (Sonata-Elegy)
09. Sonaten-Triade Op. 11: No. 3 In C Major

Disc: 2
01. Sonata In G Minor Op. 22: Tenebroso, sempre affrettando – Allegro assai – Interludium (Andante lugubre) – Allegro assai
02. Sonata-Skazka In C Minor Op. 25 No. 1: Allegro abbandonamente
03. Sonata-Skazka In C Minor Op. 25 No. 1: Andantino con moto
04. Sonata-Skazka In C Minor Op. 25 No. 1: Allegro con spirito
05. Sonata In E Minor ‘Night Wind’ Op. 25 No. 2: Introduzione: Andante – Allegro
06. Sonata In E Minor ‘Night Wind’ Op. 25 No. 2: poco e poco Allegro molto sfrenatamente, presto

Disc: 3
01. Sonata-Ballada In F Sharp Major Op. 27: Allegretto
02. Sonata-Ballada In F Sharp Major Op. 27: Introduzione: Mesto
03. Sonata-Ballada In F Sharp Major Op. 27: Finale: Allegro
04. Sonata In A Minor Op. 30: Allegro risoluto – Allegro molto
05. Vergessene Weisen (Forgotten Melodies) Op. 38: No. 1 Sonata-Reminiscenza: Allegretto tranquillo
06. Vergessene Weisen (Forgotten Melodies) Op. 38: No. 2 Danza graziosa: Con moto leggiero
07. Vergessene Weisen (Forgotten Melodies) Op. 38: No. 3 Danza festiva: Presto
08. Vergessene Weisen (Forgotten Melodies) Op. 38: No. 4 Canzona fluviala: Allegretto con moto
09. Vergessene Weisen (Forgotten Melodies) Op. 38: No. 5 Danza rustica: Allegro commodo
10. Vergessene Weisen (Forgotten Melodies) Op. 38: No. 6 Canzona serenata: Moderato
11. Vergessene Weisen (Forgotten Melodies) Op. 38: No. 7 Danza silvestra
12. Vergessene Weisen (Forgotten Melodies) Op. 38: No. 8 Alla Reminiscenza: Quasi coda

Disc: 4
01. No. 1 Meditazione: Introduzione, quasi Cadenza – Meno mosso – Meditamente
02. No. 2 Romanza: Meditamente
03. No. 3 Primavera: Vivace
04. No. 4 Canzona matinata: Allegretto cantando, ma sempre con moto
05. No. 5 Sonata tragica: Allegro non troppo
06. Sonata In B Flat Minor ‘Sonata Romantica’ Op. 53 No. 1: Romanza: Andantino con moto, ma sempre espressivo
07. Sonata In B Flat Minor ‘Sonata Romantica’ Op. 53 No. 1: Scherzo: Allegro
08. Sonata In B Flat Minor ‘Sonata Romantica’ Op. 53 No. 1: Meditazione: Andante con moto
09. Sonata In B Flat Minor ‘Sonata Romantica’ Op. 53 No. 1: Finale: Allegro non troppo
10. Sonata In B Flat Minor ‘Sonata Minacciosa’ Op. 53 No. 2: Allegro sostenuto
11. Sonate-Idylle In G Major Op. 56: Pastorale: Allegretto cantabile
12. Sonate-Idylle In G Major Op. 56: Allegro moderato e cantabile

Here is the magic Russian music

Having come to this monumental recording expecting to be schooled by the player on performance and the composer on creation, I learned, however, that my expectations reflected a innocence and naiveté not experienced since my childhood exposure to Tchaikovsky. Having heard snippets of Medtner, and reading about the emerging contemporary awareness of his place with the Russian giants, I hunted briefly for a ‘good example’ of the work to review. I immediately learned of Marc-Andre Hamelin’s recording of the Sonatas, for good reason, I now know.

Here was the answer to all the questions I had; What is Medtner’s place in the Russian cannon? Why was he considered a master by his contemporaries? How do his musical creations stand as original art? How much attention and concentration is required to truly find this music and take it home to your heart and soul? Here we find the answers so grandly displayed that they seem self-evident.

Here we find that magic when performance melds with composition in a place rarely found beyond the composer’s own playing of his composition. Here Hamelin seems to ‘channel’ Medtner, if I may be so bold having not the pleasure of hearing Medtner play Medtner. This is the only aspect by which one might deem these recordings to be ‘second best’.

Upon first hearing I was stunned. On second hearing I was shaken. On third hearing I was stirred to the core. The more I listen, the more I hear; the more I hear the more I come to regard Medtner as the greatest Russian composer, and the more highly I regard Medtner, the more thankful I am that Hamelin gave this gift to us all. Don’t hold back even for a minute–get it on and in at your earliest possible convenience.