Biography (read more)
Nikolai Karlovich Medtner was born in Moscow on 5 January 1880 (24 December 1879 in the old calendar), fifth of six children of a family of German origin. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory, and unlike his friend and contemporary Rachmaninoff he kept composition and pianism in strict balance all his life. He left Russia in 1921, living in Germany and France before settling in London in 1935, where he died on 13 November 1951.
Everything Medtner wrote includes the piano: fourteen sonatas, three concertos, a quintet, and the 38 Skazki — ‘Tales’, his most original music — alongside 108 songs. A younger contemporary of Rachmaninoff and Scriabin, he refused every modernist turn and built instead a contrapuntal, architecturally rigorous romanticism that pianists rank among the most demanding in the repertoire. Long a connoisseur’s composer, he is now steadily recorded, and the site’s catalogue lets his sonatas and Tales be heard across several hands.
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Repertoire
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 33: Tranquillo, meditamente –— Yevgeny Sudbin
Performed by Yevgeny Sudbin
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 33: Coda. Allegro molto— Yevgeny Sudbin
Performed by Yevgeny Sudbin
Piano Concerto No. 3 in E Minor, Op. 60 “Ballade”: I. Con moto largamento – Allegro con moto— Yevgeny Sudbin
Performed by Yevgeny Sudbin
Piano Concerto No. 3 in E Minor, Op. 60 “Ballade”: II. Interludium. Allegro –— Yevgeny Sudbin
Performed by Yevgeny Sudbin
Piano Concerto No. 3 in E Minor, Op. 60 “Ballade”: III. Finale. Allegro molto— Yevgeny Sudbin
Performed by Yevgeny Sudbin
Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 50 in C Minor: I. Toccata. Allegro risoluto— Yevgeny Sudbin
Performed by Yevgeny Sudbin
Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 50 in C Minor: II. Romanza. Andante con moto— Yevgeny Sudbin
Performed by Yevgeny Sudbin
Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 50 in C Minor: III. Divertissment. Allegro risoluto e molto vivace— Yevgeny Sudbin
Performed by Yevgeny Sudbin
Piano Quintet in C Major, Op. posth.: I. Molto placido— Martha Argerich
Performed by Martha Argerich
Piano Quintet in C Major, Op. posth.: II. Andantino con moto— Martha Argerich
Performed by Martha Argerich
Piano Quintet in C Major, Op. posth.: III. Finale (Allegro vivace)— Martha Argerich
Performed by Martha Argerich
4 Fairy Tales, Op. 26 (Excerpts) : No. 1 in E-Flat Major (Live)— Vladimir Sofronitsky
Performed by Vladimir Sofronitsky
Violin Sonata No. 3 in E Minor, Op. 57 “Epica”: I. Introduzione— Vadim Repin
Performed by Vadim Repin
Violin Sonata No. 3 in E Minor, Op. 57 “Epica”: III. Andante con moto— Vadim Repin
Performed by Vadim Repin
Piano Sonata in C Major, Op. 11 No. 3 (Live)— Vladimir Sofronitsky
Performed by Vladimir Sofronitsky
3 Novellettes, Op. 17: No. 2 in C Minor (Live)— Vladimir Sofronitsky
Performed by Vladimir Sofronitsky
4 Fairy Tales, Op. 26 (Excerpts) : No. 3 in F Minor (Live)— Vladimir Sofronitsky
Performed by Vladimir Sofronitsky
Fairy Tale, Op. 14 No. 2 “March of the Paladin” (Live)— Vladimir Sofronitsky
Performed by Vladimir Sofronitsky
6 Tales, Op. 51: No. 3, Allegretto tranquillo e grazioso— Yevgeny Sudbin
Performed by Yevgeny Sudbin
Forgotten Melodies, Cycle 1, Op. 38: No. 1, Sonata reminiscenza— Yevgeny Sudbin
Performed by Yevgeny Sudbin
Forgotten Melodies, Cycle 2, Op. 39: No. 4, Canzon matinata— Yevgeny Sudbin
Performed by Yevgeny Sudbin
Forgotten Melodies, Cycle 2, Op. 39: No. 5, Sonata tragica— Yevgeny Sudbin
Performed by Yevgeny Sudbin
9 Goethe Songs, Op. 6, No. 5. Liebliches Kind!: 9 Goethe Songs, Op. 6: No. 5, Liebliches Kind!…— Yevgeny Sudbin
Performed by Yevgeny Sudbin
Neun Lieder von W. Goethe, Op. 6: I. Wandrers Nachtlied— Marlis Petersen
Performed by Marlis Petersen