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Medtner: Incantation, Complete Songs, Vol. 1
Brilliant Classics

Medtner: Incantation, Complete Songs, Vol. 1

$19.99

Details

Composer
MEDTNER, NIKOLAI
Artist
Levental, Peters
Format
CD
Label
Brilliant Classics
Released
Aug 28, 2020
Catalog #
BRI96056
UPC
5028421960562

About

Medtner's legacy for solo piano is now widely esteemed alongside Rachmaninoff and other giants of the Russian 'silver age': melodists to their core, romantics at heart, yet rigorous craftsmen to their fingertips, who took their muse seriously and refined their inspiration to distil a peculiarly Russian spirit of melancholy in sound. However, around a third of Medtner's output, measured by opus numbers, was dedicated to voices, and this section of his music has received much less attention. Ekaterina Levental has dedicated herself to correcting this imbalance. The Uzbek-born, Dutch-resident mezzo-soprano has given all of Medtner's songs in concert with the pianist Frank Peters; together, they now embark on a recorded cycle. Medtner lacked nothing for self-sacrificing dedication to his art, and he chose to set the finest poets of his Russian homeland: Pushkin, Fet, Lermontov and others, and then Goethe and Eichendorff in German. Unlike Rachmaninoff he continued to write songs even after emigrating and settling in London. 'Medtner's musical vocabulary is very rich and expressive,' Levental and Peters explain in their own booklet note, which is printed together with English translations of the lyrics. 'Some songs immediately captivate you, others require a certain effort from the listener. Anyone who takes up the challenge, makes a discovery. Every song is a treasure and an intimate, spiritual confession from the composer to his listener.' In the category of 'immediate appeal' surely fall the two songs of Op.13: the ardent vocal response to Pushkin's Winter Evening perfectly underscored by the stormy piano part. No less unmistakably Russian in expression is the complementary Epitaph, triumphant even in it's mournfulness and like many other of the songs here not as stern as much of Medtner's piano music. Any listener looking for the composer's personal voice, behind the virtuoso keyboard fireworks, should start here.

Tracklist 27 tracks

  1. 1 No. 1. U vrat obiteli svyatoy (At the gate of the holy abode) 03:04
    Track
    1
    Title
    No. 1. U vrat obiteli svyatoy (At the gate of the holy abode)
    Duration
    03:04
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  2. 2 No. 2. Ya perezhil svoi zhelan'ya (Gone are my heart's desires) 01:58
    Track
    2
    Title
    No. 2. Ya perezhil svoi zhelan'ya (Gone are my heart's desires)
    Duration
    01:58
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  3. 3 No. 3. Na ozere (On the Lake) 02:27
    Track
    3
    Title
    No. 3. Na ozere (On the Lake)
    Duration
    02:27
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  4. 4 Zimniy vecher (Winter Evening), Op. 13, No. 1 03:19
    Track
    4
    Title
    Zimniy vecher (Winter Evening), Op. 13, No. 1
    Duration
    03:19
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  5. 5 Epitafiya (Epitaph), Op. 13, No. 2 02:47
    Track
    5
    Title
    Epitafiya (Epitaph), Op. 13, No. 2
    Duration
    02:47
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  6. 6 No. 1. Den' i noch' (Day and Night) 02:35
    Track
    6
    Title
    No. 1. Den' i noch' (Day and Night)
    Duration
    02:35
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  7. 7 No. 2. Chto ti klonish' nad vodami (Willow, why for ever bending?) 01:29
    Track
    7
    Title
    No. 2. Chto ti klonish' nad vodami (Willow, why for ever bending?)
    Duration
    01:29
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  8. 8 No. 3. Duma za dumoy, volna za volnoy (Sea-swell and Memories) 01:51
    Track
    8
    Title
    No. 3. Duma za dumoy, volna za volnoy (Sea-swell and Memories)
    Duration
    01:51
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  9. 9 No. 4. Sumerki (Twilight) 03:33
    Track
    9
    Title
    No. 4. Sumerki (Twilight)
    Duration
    03:33
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  10. 10 No. 5. Ya potryasen kogda krugom (O'er thee I bend) 02:46
    Track
    10
    Title
    No. 5. Ya potryasen kogda krugom (O'er thee I bend)
    Duration
    02:46
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  11. 11 No. 6. Tol'ko vstrechu ulibku tvoyu (When my glances thy smile chance to meet) 02:29
    Track
    11
    Title
    No. 6. Tol'ko vstrechu ulibku tvoyu (When my glances thy smile chance to meet)
    Duration
    02:29
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  12. 12 No. 7. Shopot, robkoye dikhan'ye (Whisp'ring, Nature faintly stirring) 01:52
    Track
    12
    Title
    No. 7. Shopot, robkoye dikhan'ye (Whisp'ring, Nature faintly stirring)
    Duration
    01:52
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  13. 13 No. 8. Ya prishyol k tebe s privetom (Greeting) 01:56
    Track
    13
    Title
    No. 8. Ya prishyol k tebe s privetom (Greeting)
    Duration
    01:56
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  14. 14 No. 1. Nezhdannïy dozhd' (Unexpected Rain) 02:50
    Track
    14
    Title
    No. 1. Nezhdannïy dozhd' (Unexpected Rain)
    Duration
    02:50
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  15. 15 No. 2. Ne mogu ya slïshat' etoy ptichki (Serenade) 02:00
    Track
    15
    Title
    No. 2. Ne mogu ya slïshat' etoy ptichki (Serenade)
    Duration
    02:00
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  16. 16 No. 3. Babochka (The Butterfly) 01:17
    Track
    16
    Title
    No. 3. Babochka (The Butterfly)
    Duration
    01:17
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  17. 17 No. 4. Tyazhela, bestsvetna i pusta (Heavy is the gravestone) 03:47
    Track
    17
    Title
    No. 4. Tyazhela, bestsvetna i pusta (Heavy is the gravestone)
    Duration
    03:47
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  18. 18 No. 5. Vesenneye uspokoyeniye (Spring Solace) 01:59
    Track
    18
    Title
    No. 5. Vesenneye uspokoyeniye (Spring Solace)
    Duration
    01:59
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  19. 19 No. 6. Sizhu zadumchiv i odin (Absorbed and alone) 05:38
    Track
    19
    Title
    No. 6. Sizhu zadumchiv i odin (Absorbed and alone)
    Duration
    05:38
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  20. 20 No. 7. Poshli, gospod', svoyu otradu (Send thy comfort) 03:08
    Track
    20
    Title
    No. 7. Poshli, gospod', svoyu otradu (Send thy comfort)
    Duration
    03:08
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  21. 21 No. 1. Muza (The Muse) 03:16
    Track
    21
    Title
    No. 1. Muza (The Muse)
    Duration
    03:16
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  22. 22 No. 2. Pevets (The Singer) 03:10
    Track
    22
    Title
    No. 2. Pevets (The Singer)
    Duration
    03:10
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  23. 23 No. 3. Stikhi, sochinenniye noch'yu vo vremya bessonnitsi (Lines written during a sleepless night) 02:47
    Track
    23
    Title
    No. 3. Stikhi, sochinenniye noch'yu vo vremya bessonnitsi (Lines written during a sleepless night)
    Duration
    02:47
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  24. 24 No. 4. Kon' (The Horse) 02:25
    Track
    24
    Title
    No. 4. Kon' (The Horse)
    Duration
    02:25
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  25. 25 No. 5. Elegiya: Ya perezhil svoi zhelan'ya (Gone are my heart's desires) 02:06
    Track
    25
    Title
    No. 5. Elegiya: Ya perezhil svoi zhelan'ya (Gone are my heart's desires)
    Duration
    02:06
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  26. 26 No. 6. Roza (The Rose) 02:03
    Track
    26
    Title
    No. 6. Roza (The Rose)
    Duration
    02:03
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters
  27. 27 No. 7. Zaklinaniye (The Call, Evocation) 03:32
    Track
    27
    Title
    No. 7. Zaklinaniye (The Call, Evocation)
    Duration
    03:32
    Composer
    Nikolai Medtner
    Performer
    Ekaterina Levental, Frank Peters