Medtner Skazki Op. 34 no. 2 and Op. 35 No. 4

[furtwaengler]

I used to think Medtner was one of these buried treasures not many people knew about, but I dare say his following has rapidly caught on. This same night I performed these at a university in Nashville, Dror Biran was performing the third piece of the Sonata Triad, op. 11 no. 3...at another university in Nashville (music city indeed!). I like it, I do like it...and now I have a great desire to learn several more of the skazki.

For you, here is

Op. 34 No. 2 in E minor ("When we called a thing ours, It departs from us forever." - F. Tyutchev)
Op. 35 No. 4 in C-sharp minor ("Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks!" - King Lear)

Dave

[pianist1976]

Beautiful complex post romantic music! Post romantic but with a neat sign of originality and personality. As far as it is the first time I listen to these pieces, I liked very much your interpretation. Impassioned and well singed. Thanks for sharing!

I'm amazed this hasn't been commented until now. It may be related to the recent bunch of sub par quality new compositions that plagued the Audition Room in recent days, which buried beautiful interpretations of beautiful music. Please, stop that nonsense!

Congrats, David!

[rachfan]

Bravo, Dave!  

I listened to these two Medtner skazki twice and will be listening again!  Both these works are the very essence of late romanticism.  There's just incredible deep beauty there, and you play both pieces with great passion and elan despite the level of difficulty.  Your playing truly left me in awe.  I must say, these are peak performances.  Congratulations on this marvelous achievement!

What edition of the Skazki do you use?

David      

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Sounds like it was an exciting concert! Persuasive and compelling pianism. The second one strongly puts me in mind of Liapunov's Tempest Etude, as revisited and re-expressed by the next generation of musical development.

[furiouzpianist]

wow, these are such masterpieces! the playing is full of color. I love your sense of line. I haven't heard the Op. 35 before.

Your tone is full and projected. Please record more Medtner! I enjoy his smaller works especially...

this is a live recording? damn!!

[emill]

hello Dave,

Thank you for posting these beautifully played ... 2 pieces .... so full of intense emotions
and contrast!

Expands my musical horizon and education.  May I also say, this is very well recorded.

emill

[chopin2015]

Thank you so much for sharing these recordings!

[furiouzpianist]

these recordings are now on my ipod......Will you learn/record some more Medtner Skaski, please?

[furtwaengler]

Thank you all for the very kind comments! I am overjoyed that you like these pieces. On that note you may check out these Medtner recordings posted by Andhow04:

Nikolai Medtner (1888 - 1951)
Tale, op.14 no.1 - Ophelia's Song
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=42240.msg465220#msg465220
Tale, op.14 no.2 - March of the Paladin
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=39753.msg443910#msg443910
Tale, op.20 no.1, in b-flat minor
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=37801.msg427942#msg427942
Tale, op.20 no.2 - La Campanella
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=36462.msg417987#msg417987
Tale, op.35 no.4, in c# minor
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=41190.msg464210#msg464210
Tale, op.42 no.1 - Russian Folktale
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=43961.0

In the past I've also uploaded the op.20 Skazki and the 3rd Concerto which I got to play with a community orchestra back in 2009. Medtner has had and will likely always have some place in the selections I work on and am occasionally able to play publicly.

I found myself playing around with Liapunov's Tempest some today!

[andhow04]

thanks for posting my links, you didnt have to ! i seem to remember having heard another performanc of the op 35 no.4 by you on the website a while ago.  i think you did a great job here, and your op.35 is better than mine. i went back to listen to mine and found myself cringing at all the missed notes. well that happens I guess.

i dont know op.34 but it sounded excellent, but could it be too fast?  not having played it i am not sure how literal the contour of the LH can or should be, but its just a thought. this piece reminds me in a superficial, obvious way of rachmaninoff op.16 moment musicale in e minor, though that piece is more extroverted virtuosically.  at least they are in the same class of piece, sort of rhapsodic and ostinato-like if not literally ostinato.  another comparison i like is medtner op.14 no.2, march of the paladin, with rachmaninoff op.39 no.4, etude in b minor, where I really think he was channeling medtner.  then again i'e never looked at the dates of composition, so that could be fantasy

op.35 no4 was great, you really sounded in command of it all. espcially excellent at the impossible passage from bars 87-94, the crazy voicing and polyrhythms, esp in m 94 where i could hear the inner voice hidden in the triplets. the left hand didnt strike me as always that clear tho, and sometimes a little fix like just letting the bass note resonate louder than the rest for instance in ms5-11, works wonders for it. maybe its the recording.

the slightly weird passages like m15-20 are so hard to phrase in the left hand, because everything is registered so low, and they all jsut taper off.   just a little more clarity of the line there, also adds a lot.

oh one voice i think you missed which could have been dramatic is the accented notes and their resolutions in ms 31-35, the f# in right hand goes to the e in left in the next bar, same with the G to the f#, etc.   only a small point because you had the right sweep.

playing this piece is a real experience. reading medtner's prose, i found a description of the playing of rachmaninoff, he said (this is not an exact quote) that he shook the notes out of his sleeve.  he may have said like a wet dog, but i might have invented that part.  to play this piece, you really have to do that, like in those passages in sixths, which sounded very good.

i dont remember seeing your 3rd concerto, i will have to go look for it.
until soon

[fnork]

BRAVO! Wonderful to hear these pieces performed with such passion - loved how you went straight on to op 35 right after the previous one. Overall, the op 34 came off a bit more successful to me, while I felt the op 35 was on the faster and lesser differentiated side - there's more room for nuance. Still, absolutely fabulous playing - congrats! You're very much at home with this music, clearly.

[goldentone]

Grand playing, Dave!

[furtwaengler]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions, andhow, fnork, and goldentone. It is possible I played them both too fast, though op. 34 is marked quarter = 100, and Medtner played it about this speed. Berezovsky has a bit more breath and space to his interpretation...he is the king of Medtner right now! Op. 35 is marked a couple ticks slower than I played it, but I think that extra push can be more exciting...a wind which devastates the land!

These have been youtubed:

[rachfan]

Hi Dave,

I had commented on your audio recording previously, so it was great to see your video of these same performances.  Bravo again!  You play these pieces with marvelous Late Romantic surge and flare.  I think that your tempi work very well in projecting your interpretations.  Another thing I noticed from the video is that you're a believer, like me, in economy of motion while executing musical intent. The greatest master of this technique, of course, was the late Jorge Bolet.

Thanks for sharing your wonderful video.

David