Artist: Hamish Milne
Title: Medtner: Arabesques, Dithyrambs, Elegies
Year Of Release: 2012
Label: Hyperion
Genre: Classical
Quality: FLAC (tracks+  booklet)
Total Time: 02:37:07
Total Size: 475 MB

Tracklist:

CD1
01. Stimmungsbilder, op. 1~~Prolog. Andante cantabile (4:29)
02. Stimmungsbilder, op. 1~~Allegro con impeto (2:02)
03. Stimmungsbilder, op. 1~~Maestoso freddo (2:22)
04. Stimmungsbilder, op. 1~~Andantino con moto (3:06)
05. Stimmungsbilder, op. 1~~Andante (3:14)
06. Stimmungsbilder, op. 1~~Allegro con humore (2:11)
07. Stimmungsbilder, op. 1~~Allegro con ira (1:48)
08. Stimmungsbilder, op. 1~~Allegro con grazia (1:43)
09. Improvisations, op. 2~~Nixe [Rusalka]. Veloce (8:10)
10. Improvisations, op. 2~~Eine Ball-Reminiscenz. Schwärmend (6:25)
11. Improvisations, op. 2~~Scherzo infernale. Prestissimo possibile (5:00)
12. Pieces for piano, op. 4~~Étude. Allegro assai (3:26)
13. Pieces for piano, op. 4~~Caprice. Allegretto capriccioso (3:32)
14. Pieces for piano, op. 4~~Moment musical. Agitato (2:34)
15. Pieces for piano, op. 4~~Prélude. Allegro appassionato (2:35)
16. Arabesques, op. 7~~Ein Idyll. Allegretto tranquillo e dolce (2:16)
17. Arabesques, op. 7~~Tragoedie-Fragment in A minor. Andantino con moto (3:52)
18. Arabesques, op. 7~~Tragoedie-Fragment in G minor. Allegro inquieto ma al rigore di tempo (4:01)
19. Dithryambs, op. 10~~Maestoso severamente (6:13)
20. Dithryambs, op. 10~~Mit höchstem Pathos (8:42)
21. Dithryambs, op. 10~~Andantino innocente (2:37)

CD2
01. Novelles, op. 17~~Daphnis und Chloe. Andante (3:45)
02. Novelles, op. 17~~Tempo giusto (4:48)
03. Novelles, op. 17~~Allegro, molto sostenuto (6:49)
04. Lyric Fragments, op. 23~~Allegro commodamente (2:58)
05. Lyric Fragments, op. 23~~Andantino gracile (3:03)
06. Lyric Fragments, op. 23~~Tempo di Valse (1:59)
07. Lyric Fragments, op. 23~~Andantino tenebroso (2:04)
08. Étude in C minor (WoO) (2:39)
09. Pieces for piano, op. 31~~Improvisation. Andantino, gracile (8:17)
10. Pieces for piano, op. 31~~Marche funèbre. Andante lugubre (3:11)
11. Pieces for piano, op. 31~~Skazka. Allegretto capriccioso, con molto tenerezza (2:27)
12. Hymns in Praise of Toil, op. 49~~Vor der Arbeit. Allegretto molto tranquillo (3:50)
13. Hymns in Praise of Toil, op. 49~~Am Amboss. Allegro, molto pesante e poco rubato (3:27)
14. Hymns in Praise of Toil, op. 49~~Nach der Arbeit. Allegro vivace (3:37)
15. Theme and Variations in C-sharp minor, op. 55 (9:10)
16. Elegies, op. 59~~Andante largamento (6:53)
17. Elegies, op. 59~~Andante con moto (8:14)

‘Write one such piece and one can die.’ So pronounced Rachmaninov, no less, after hearing the second of Medtner’s Arabesques. This is just one of the delights in the enticing selection box offered by Hamish Milne, a long-standing and ardent champion of Medtner’s music. These two discs explore the many miniatures—in size though not in ambition—that he wrote throughout his life. The very opening of his Mood Pictures shows a remarkable sophistication for a man barely out of his teens, while the magnificent pair of Elegies forms a fitting conclusion to a set that reminds us that it is sometimes among the ‘miscellaneous’ works that the greatest gems are to be found.