From the reserved charm of the three Nocturnes to the heroic struggle of the 'Sonata Epica': the major violin-and-piano works by Nikolai Medtner, in a new recording by musicians with an impressive pedigree in the music of this overlooked master of late Romanticism. While Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951) is best known for the cycle of piano sonatas which assure his stature as one of the great pianist-composers of the 20th century, his musical inspiration was hardly confined to expression through his own instrument. Brilliant Classics have already issued a magnificent cycle of Medtner's complete songs, which cover the course of the composer's long career from his Russian childhood to his exile and retirement in London from 1936. Medtner's wife Anna was a violinist, and he seems to have had her in mind when writing his music for violin and piano. Premiered in 1911, the First Sonata was inspired by the figure of Dionysus, Greek god of revelry. Thus the sonata concludes with a wild 'Dithyramb' which works a tango rhythm into the texture. From 1925, the Second Sonata bears the subtitle 'Spring' less in homage to Beethoven's example than to a poem by Fyodor Tyutchev. This is one of Medtner's most overtly 'Russian' works with it's folky spirit and evocations of balalaikas. The third, last and longest of the sonatas was composed in 1938, once Medtner had settled in London. We may hear in it the mingled relief and sadness at the turbulent state of his homeland, and his distance from it. Born in Naples in 1988, Fabrizio Falasca is Assistant Leader of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, regularly playing with the world's great conductors of our day, but he also pursues a busy solo career of his own, as both a recitalist and a recording artist. This survey of Medtner marks his third album for Brilliant Classics, following well-received collections of Viotti and Busoni: 'Fluent, musical and well-recorded performances' (MusicWeb International). His partner on this occasion is the pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi, who is renowned in his own right as a specialist in super-virtuoso piano music and neglected composers of the late-Romantic era. He is a regular guest at the Rarities of Piano Music Festival in Husum, Germany and a professor of piano at the Cleveland Institute of Music. His own extensive catalogue of recordings includes collections of solo music by Grieg and Hummel as well as concertos and chamber-music collaborations such as this one with his fellow Italian, Fabrizio Falasca. Together, violinist and pianist tap into the elusive but deep feelings flowing beneath the complex surface of Medtner's ambitious forms and grand narratives. Once Medtner has a listener in his spell, in works such as the violin sonatas, he does not let go.

Born and raised in Foggia, Italy, Antonio Pompa-Baldi first came to the U.S. in 1999 to participate in the Cleveland International Piano Competition. He won the First Prize, and embarked on a career that continues to extend across five continents. A top prize winner at the 1998 Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition of Paris, France, Antonio Pompa-Baldi also won a silver medal at the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, as well as the Award for the Best Performance of a New Work. - Pompa-Baldi.com

Antonio Pompa-Baldi continues his series of recordings for Centaur devoted to the music of Edvard Grieg with the ever popular Piano Concerto.

This is an amazing program of piano works by contemporary Italian composer Roberto Piana, brilliantly played by Italian pianist Antonio-Pompa-Baldi, who now has nearly 20 albums on the Centaur label. This album consists of two major works: 25 Preludi Pittorici, and Piano Sonata. Antonio Pompa-Baldi is an award-winning concert pianist and a beloved professor of music at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Maestro Pompa-Baldi’s talent is powered by boundless technical prowess and a genuine love of music. We hope this website gives you a worthy preview of his art. “Pompa-Baldi demonstrated both brilliance and structural insight… He also showed himself to be an ensemble player of considerable sensitivity, seeming to relish the partnership of other instruments.” (The Boston Globe)

Born and raised in Foggia, Italy, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, a top prizewinner at the 1998 Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition, winner of the 1999 Cleveland Int'l Piano Competition, and silver medalist at the 2001 Van Cliburn Int'l Piano Competition, appears regularly at the world's major concert venues. A beloved professor at the Cleveland Institute of Music and a prolific Centaur recording artist, this release marks the second volume in his complete traversal of the piano sonatas of Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837). "... warmth, exquisite taste and...arresting technique." (The LA Times)

This album features three first-rate, greatly underperformed, Italian Sonatas for Violin and Piano. Respighi, Martucci, and Rota are all three wonderful composers, and it shows clearly in these works. Italian artists Fabrizio Falasca and Antonio Pompa-Baldi infuse these three great works with the life they deserve.