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Medtner: Angel - Complete Songs, Vol. 3 / Levental, Peters
Brilliant Classics

Medtner: Angel - Complete Songs, Vol. 3 / Levental, Peters

$18.99

Details

Composer
Nikolai Medtner
Artist
Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
Format
CD
Label
Brilliant Classics
Released
Jan 21, 2022
Catalog #
BRI96062
UPC
5028421960623

About

Anybody who has entered into the cosmos of Medtner’s music, and especially of his songs, will be aware of its introvert, secretive, sometimes even hermetic character. His mixture of Russian and German philosophy and art, indebted to the bicultural upbringing in his family, was unique. Yet the outstanding quality of his songs does not lie in their stylistic singularity, but in their resistance to cliches of the genre and their musical and psychological insights. Medtner digs deep into his chosen texts. Even his choice of the poet Lermontov for his first published song ('The Angel') is significant for a composer who always professed his belief in the divine nature of art and the artist’s vocation. Testifying to a similar artistic credo, Goethe’s poem ‘Geweihter Platz’ (‘The Sacred Grove’) was first set by Medtner as an introduction to the Sonata-Vocalise Op.41 No.1. He recomposed the song in his Op 46 set but then returned to it once more for this Suite-Vocalise, which opens with a wordless evocation of the lofty mood established by the poet. The finale alludes to Schumann (‘Was der Dichter spricht’) while returning to the rapt opening. The Suite-Vocalise as a whole is one of Medtner’s most experimental works, paying homage to an exemplary reflection about the sacred quality of art and the mysterious secrets of artistic inspiration. The Pushkin songs Op.52, finished in summer 1929, are Medtner’s last authored song collection. The chosen poems focus on longing, unfulfilled love, or love connected to death and murder. His settings once more reach powerful heights of expression, both in his description of despair and torment and in his peculiar way of finding to hope and joy despite of all tragedy.

Tracklist 17 tracks

  1. 1 The Angel, Op. 1bis 04:13
    Track
    1
    Title
    The Angel, Op. 1bis
    Duration
    04:13
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  2. 2 Introduzione: Allegretto espressivo - I. Gesang der Nymphen 05:13
    Track
    2
    Title
    Introduzione: Allegretto espressivo - I. Gesang der Nymphen
    Duration
    05:13
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  3. 3 II. Geheimnisse 04:12
    Track
    3
    Title
    II. Geheimnisse
    Duration
    04:12
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  4. 4 III. Zug der Grazien 03:31
    Track
    4
    Title
    III. Zug der Grazien
    Duration
    03:31
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  5. 5 IV. Was der Dichter spricht 06:33
    Track
    5
    Title
    IV. Was der Dichter spricht
    Duration
    06:33
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  6. 6 No. 1. Okno (The Window) 05:01
    Track
    6
    Title
    No. 1. Okno (The Window)
    Duration
    05:01
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  7. 7 No. 2. Voron (The Ravens) 02:34
    Track
    7
    Title
    No. 2. Voron (The Ravens)
    Duration
    02:34
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  8. 8 No. 3. Elegiya (Elegy) 04:16
    Track
    8
    Title
    No. 3. Elegiya (Elegy)
    Duration
    04:16
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  9. 9 No. 4. Primeti (Omens) 01:58
    Track
    9
    Title
    No. 4. Primeti (Omens)
    Duration
    01:58
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  10. 10 No. 5. Ispanskiy romans (Spanish Romance) 02:37
    Track
    10
    Title
    No. 5. Ispanskiy romans (Spanish Romance)
    Duration
    02:37
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  11. 11 No. 6. Serenada (Serenade) 03:21
    Track
    11
    Title
    No. 6. Serenada (Serenade)
    Duration
    03:21
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  12. 12 No. 7. Uznik (The Captive) 01:41
    Track
    12
    Title
    No. 7. Uznik (The Captive)
    Duration
    01:41
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  13. 13 I. Pastorale: Allegretto cantabile 04:06
    Track
    13
    Title
    I. Pastorale: Allegretto cantabile
    Duration
    04:06
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  14. 14 II. Allegro moderato e cantabile (sempre al rigore di tempo) 08:54
    Track
    14
    Title
    II. Allegro moderato e cantabile (sempre al rigore di tempo)
    Duration
    08:54
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  15. 15 Molitva (Prayer) 02:31
    Track
    15
    Title
    Molitva (Prayer)
    Duration
    02:31
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  16. 16 Epitafiya (Epitaph), Op. 13, No. 2 02:12
    Track
    16
    Title
    Epitafiya (Epitaph), Op. 13, No. 2
    Duration
    02:12
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  17. 17 Psalm 01:30
    Track
    17
    Title
    Psalm
    Duration
    01:30
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters