Composer: Nikolai Medtner, Sergey Rachmaninov, Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
Performer: Nikolay Medvedev
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Quartz
Catalogue: QTZ2143
Release: 2021
Size: 1.23 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Rachmaninov: Moments Musicaux, Op. 16
01. No.1 in B-Flat Minor, Andantino
02. No.2 in E-Flat Minor, Allegretto
03. No.3 in B Minor, Andante cantabile
04. No.4 in E Minor, Presto
05. No.5 in D-Flat Major, Adagio sostenuto
06. No.6, in C Major, Maestoso
Medtner: Piano Sonata in G minor, Op. 22
07. Piano Sonata in G Minor, Op. 22
Tchaikovsky: Grand Sonata in G Major, Op. 37, TH 139
08. I. Moderato e risoluto
09. II. Andante non troppo quasi moderato
10. III. Scherzo. Allegro giocoso
11. IV. Finale. Allegro vivace
Interviewed by “Musical America” in 1921, Rachmaninoff was asked: “would you agree that the heart should be the composer’s guide through the labyrinths of accepted forms?”. “Yes”, he replied, “the heart above all. Of course, the head must aid in the building of great musical structures, but by itself the head is impotent. If a composer is devoid of heart or hasn’t his heart in the right place, it is impossible for him to conceal his deficiency. This explains why Russian music is so superlatively great; it speaks so directly to the heart. That is what gives it its vital beauty, its universality of appeal, and thus all great art is universal and national in character – it were better to say local instead of national – at one and the same moment”. It is perhaps for this reason that young pianist Nikolay Medvedev has chosen a program of Russian piano masterpieces for his debut album.