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SOMM Recordings

Fusions

$20.99

Details

Composer
George Gershwin, Nikolai Kapustin
Artist
Nikolay Medvedev
Format
CD
Label
SOMM Recordings
Released
Jun 19, 2026
Catalog #
SOMMCD 0724
UPC
748871072428

About

An exciting release from SOMM Recordings, featuring the Russian-born pianist Nikolay Medvedev, is the aptly named Fusions, which brings together the music of George Gershwin and Nikolai Kapustin-two diverse pianist-composers who share the influence of jazz in their work-while also highlighting the virtuosity of Earl Wild, one of the greatest American pianists of the 20th century. George Gershwin, whose compositions spanned jazz, popular, and classical music, hardly needs introduction, yet the unique fusion of jazz and classical forms of Nikolai Kapustin-who was born the year of Gershwin's death in 1937-was limited to a niche audience in Russia, until his music became internationally known in the early 2000s. These classical and jazz infused works are vividly performed by award-winning pianist, Nikolay Medvedev, whom BBC Music Magazine has named "a pianist with poise and precision," while the Berliner Morgenpost has described his performances as "a mesmerizing combination of technical mastery and emotive depth." What sets Nikolai Kapustin apart as a composer is that, although his music inhabits jazz idioms naturally, everything in it is carefully notated on the page and not improvised as traditional jazz would be. His Second Piano Sonata, which opens this programme, dates from 1989. It's an optimistic four-movement work that blends classical sonata form with jazz elements, requiring high-level technical skill to manage it's complex, syncopated rhythms. The sophisticated harmonic and rhythmic language that Kapustin derived from jazz fusion, bebop, and stride piano is also very much in evidence in his Eight Concert Études of 1984. These are not intended to be played together as a set, and this recital features five études, ranging from a thrillingly atmospheric stylisation of South American carnival time to Joplinesque ragtime riding above a powerful left-hand stride. Kapustin's 1984 Variations for piano, which close this recital, are in the classical form of variations while seeming to contain every conceivable jazz influence. The rousing finale in particular is one of Kapustin's most exhilarating compositions. Had George Gershwin not died tragically at the age of 38, he might have completed his projected set of Twenty-Four Preludes for solo piano. As it happened, he wrote eight, and the first Three Preludes were published as a set in 1925. Prelude I is an exercise in energetic syncopation, Prelude II is a lyric blues, and Prelude III closes the set brilliantly with rugged rhythms and further syncopations. In 1932, Gershwin was persuaded to publish The George Gershwin Song-Book for solo piano, and in the 1950s Earl Wild-named by music critic Harold C. Schonberg a "super-virtuoso in the Horowitz class"-released two collections of his own unique versions of Gershwin songs. His 7 Virtuoso Etudes after George Gershwin-including Fascinatin' Rhythm and the haunting The Man I Love-raise Gershwin's inherent genius to an exceptional level of concert standards.

Tracklist 20 tracks

  1. 1 I. Allegro molto 09:37
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Allegro molto
    Duration
    09:37
    Composer
    Nikolai Kapustin
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev
  2. 2 II. Scherzo 04:16
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Scherzo
    Duration
    04:16
    Composer
    Nikolai Kapustin
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev
  3. 3 III. Largo 05:34
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Largo
    Duration
    05:34
    Composer
    Nikolai Kapustin
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev
  4. 4 IV. Perpetuum mobile 03:45
    Track
    4
    Title
    IV. Perpetuum mobile
    Duration
    03:45
    Composer
    Nikolai Kapustin
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev
  5. 5 No. 1 in B-Flat Major: Allegro ben ritmato e deciso 01:37
    Track
    5
    Title
    No. 1 in B-Flat Major: Allegro ben ritmato e deciso
    Duration
    01:37
    Composer
    George Gershwin
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev
  6. 6 No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor: Andante con moto e poco rubato 03:09
    Track
    6
    Title
    No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor: Andante con moto e poco rubato
    Duration
    03:09
    Composer
    George Gershwin
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev
  7. 7 No. 3 in E-Flat Minor: Allegro ben ritmato e deciso 01:12
    Track
    7
    Title
    No. 3 in E-Flat Minor: Allegro ben ritmato e deciso
    Duration
    01:12
    Composer
    George Gershwin
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev
  8. 8 No. 1. Prelude 01:57
    Track
    8
    Title
    No. 1. Prelude
    Duration
    01:57
    Composer
    Nikolai Kapustin
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev
  9. 9 No. 2. Reverie 03:12
    Track
    9
    Title
    No. 2. Reverie
    Duration
    03:12
    Composer
    Nikolai Kapustin
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev
  10. 10 No. 6. Pastoral 02:42
    Track
    10
    Title
    No. 6. Pastoral
    Duration
    02:42
    Composer
    Nikolai Kapustin
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev
  11. 11 No. 7. Intermezzo 03:32
    Track
    11
    Title
    No. 7. Intermezzo
    Duration
    03:32
    Composer
    Nikolai Kapustin
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev
  12. 12 No. 8. Finale 02:28
    Track
    12
    Title
    No. 8. Finale
    Duration
    02:28
    Composer
    Nikolai Kapustin
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev
  13. 13 No. 1. Liza 03:10
    Track
    13
    Title
    No. 1. Liza
    Duration
    03:10
    Composer
    Earl Wild
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev
  14. 14 No. 2. Somebody Loves Me 03:03
    Track
    14
    Title
    No. 2. Somebody Loves Me
    Duration
    03:03
    Composer
    Earl Wild
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev
  15. 15 No. 3. The Man I Love 02:49
    Track
    15
    Title
    No. 3. The Man I Love
    Duration
    02:49
    Composer
    Earl Wild
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev
  16. 16 No. 4. Embraceable You 03:25
    Track
    16
    Title
    No. 4. Embraceable You
    Duration
    03:25
    Composer
    Earl Wild
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev
  17. 17 No. 5. Lady Be Good 03:29
    Track
    17
    Title
    No. 5. Lady Be Good
    Duration
    03:29
    Composer
    Earl Wild
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev
  18. 18 No. 6. I Got Rhythm 02:17
    Track
    18
    Title
    No. 6. I Got Rhythm
    Duration
    02:17
    Composer
    Earl Wild
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev
  19. 19 No. 7. Fascinatin' Rhythm 01:36
    Track
    19
    Title
    No. 7. Fascinatin' Rhythm
    Duration
    01:36
    Composer
    Earl Wild
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev
  20. 20 Variations, Op. 41 06:53
    Track
    20
    Title
    Variations, Op. 41
    Duration
    06:53
    Composer
    Nikolai Kapustin
    Performer
    Nikolay Medvedev