NIKOLAI MEDTNER
Fairy Tales and Forgotten Melodies

The Nikolai Medtner Fairy Tales and Forgotten Melodies are performed here by a number of fine pianists, several of whom were contemporaries of the composer.  Alexander Goldenweiser, Benno Moiseiwitsch, and Maria Grinberg will give us a sense of the way in which the music was interpreted at the time of composition.  In addition Earl Wild (unfortunately there is a defect in the middle of his recording), Sviatoslav Richter, and Emil Gilels, and to a lesser extent, Leonid Brumberg, were mature pianists for much of Medtner's life and doubtless also knew his style of playing.  The pianists of today will give a different view, often exposing new facets of the music.

One of these, a young Hungarian pianist by the name of Mark Farago, brings Medtner's music to life in a very special way.  He understands Medtner as no one else quite seems to, and the music seems fresh and new and exciting.  In Farago's hands, this music shines on its own, not needing the historical context in which it was created to contribute to its meaning and value.

Nikolai Medtner's wonderful output for solo piano consists primarily of sonatas and pieces he called "Tales" or "Fairy Tales" and "Forgotten Melodies" (prophetic, perhaps?) with no specific formal implication.  A number of the sonatas, he composed 14 of them, are found in collections of these smaller pieces.  There is no consistency of form to the Nikolai Medtner piano sonatas, some are in multiple movements, some in one, and they vary considerably in length.  All are excellent music.

The "Fairy Tales" and other short pieces are all worth hearing, but I would single out the Moiseiwitsch recordings of these as well as the one of the 5th sonata which he made after a visit to Nikolai Medtner to discuss the piece (you might have to give these videos a little time to warm up, they can load very slowly).  They are splendid examples of the way this music should be played.

While some of the more recent performances of the Fairy Tales benefit from a panoramic hindsight of the work of Medtner, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin and their time and influences, they can encourage you to hear the music in terms of Rachmaninoff and Scriabin.  This great music on its own terms and should be appreciated as such.

from Eight Mood Pictures, Op 1
Geoffrey Tozer (1954-2009), Australian pianist

recorded live in 1995

1 Prologue