Composer: Nikolai Medtner
Performer: Paul Stewart
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Grand Piano
Catalogue: GP888
Release: 2022
Size: 644 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Sonata-Ballada in F sharp major, Op. 27
01. I. Allegretto
02. IIa. Introduzione. Mesto
03. IIb. Finale. Allegro
04. Piano Sonata in A minor, Op. 30
Sonata in E minor, Op. 25 No. 2 ‘Night Wind’
05. Ia. Introduzione. Andante con moto
06. Ib. Poco a poco. Allegro molto sfrenatamente
Medtner’s fourteen Piano Sonatas, the most significant achievement in this genre by any major composer since Beethoven, span his career. The Sonata-Ballade explores a tempestuous musical allegory – the triumph of light over darkness, of faith over doubt; while the Sonata in A minor is cast in a single, terse movement, with folkloric elements and frequent use of bell-like features that exude Russianness.
By contrast, the “Night Wind” Sonata is a monumental epic of exceptional complexity that stunned Rachmaninov and led composer and critic Sorabji to call it “the greatest piano sonata of modern times”.