Artist: Sofia Fomina, Alexander Karpeyev
Title: Medtner: Songs
Year Of Release: 2021
Label: Chandos
Genre: Classical
Quality: flac 24bits - 96.0kHz + Booklet
Total Time: 00:57:10
Total Size: 926 mb

Tracklist

01. 6 Poems by Pushkin, Op. 36: No. 1, The Angel
02. 6 Poems by Pushkin, Op. 36: No. 2, The Flower
03. 6 Poems by Pushkin, Op. 36: No. 3, When Roses Fade
04. 6 Poems by Pushkin, Op. 36: No. 4, Spanish Romance
05. 6 Poems by Pushkin, Op. 36: No. 5, Night
06. 6 Poems by Pushkin, Op. 36: No. 6, Arion
07. 5 Poems by Tyutchev & Fet, Op. 37: No. 1, Sleeplessness
08. 5 Poems by Tyutchev & Fet, Op. 37: No. 2, Tears
09. 5 Poems by Tyutchev & Fet, Op. 37: No. 3, Impromptu
10. 5 Poems by Tyutchev & Fet, Op. 37: No. 4, The Waltz
11. 5 Poems by Tyutchev & Fet, Op. 37: No. 5, Night Wind
12. 4 Songs, Op. 45: No. 1, Elegy
13. 4 Songs, Op. 45: No. 2, The Wagon of Life
14. 4 Songs, Op. 45: No. 3, Night Song
15. 4 Songs, Op. 45: No. 4, Our Time
16. 7 Poems, Op. 46: No. 1, Prelude
17. 7 Poems, Op. 46: No. 2, Hallowed Place
18. 7 Poems, Op. 46: No. 3, Prospect
19. 7 Poems, Op. 46: No. 4, in the Forest
20. 7 Poems, Op. 46: No. 5, Winter Night
21. 7 Poems, Op. 46: No. 6, The Spring
22. 7 Poems, Op. 46: No. 7, Sing Out!

Like his friend and contemporary Rachmaninoff, Nikolai Medtner enjoyed a privileged and affluent upbringing, and was also exiled from Russia following the revolution in 1917. Unlike Rachmaninoff, Medtner could point to an ancestry that was part German, and his father’s passion for Germanic culture ensured that Goethe and Beethoven exerted as much influence on the young Medtner as Russian composers and writers, in particular Beethoven’s piano sonatas and string quartets. Medtner moved first to Germany, then France, before settling in London in 1935.

The earlier songs in this programme, Opp. 36 and 37, were written against the backdrop of the revolution, shortly before he fled Russia. Opp. 45 and 46 (written to Russian and German texts, respectively) were composed in France.

Praised for her ‘formidably striking’ and ‘stunning silvery’ sound, the rising star soprano Sofia Fomina has performed in Toulouse and Baden-Baden, at Bayerische Staatsoper, Seattle Opera, Hungarian State Opera, Paris Opéra, and The Royal Opera, Covent Garden. Her Pamina for Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 2019 received rave reviews.

Alexander Karpeyev has performed throughout Europe and toured in the USA, Canada, and Russia as a concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. A prize-winner of several international competitions, he also completed a doctorate on performance practise in the music of Medtner, based on the Edna Iles Medtner Collection at the British Library.