Nikolai Medtner; Sergei Rachmaninov - Music for Two Pianos (Dmitri Alexeev; Nikolai Demidenko)

Information

Composer: Nikolai Medtner; Sergei Rachmaninov

1. Medtner - Two Pieces, Op. 58: Knight Errant
2. Medtner - Two Pieces, Op. 58: Russian Round-Dance "A Tale"
3. Rachmaninov - Suite No. 2, Op. 17: 1. Introduction: Alla marcia
4. Rachmaninov - Suite No. 2, Op. 17: 2. Valse: Presto
5. Rachmaninov - Suite No. 2, Op. 17: 3. Romance: Andantino
6. Rachmaninov - Suite No. 2, Op. 17: 4. Tarantelle: Presto
7. Rachmaninov - Russian Rhapsody, Op. posth.: Moderato - Cadenza - Vivace - Meno mosso
8. Rachmaninov - Russian Rhapsody, Op. posth.: Andante - Con moto - Tempo I: Meno mosso
9. Rachmaninov - Symphonic Dances, Op. 45: 1. Non allegro - Lento - Tempo I
10. Rachmaninov - Symphonic Dances, Op. 45: 2. Andante con moto: Tempo di valse
11. Rachmaninov - Symphonic Dances, Op. 45: 3. Lento assai - Allegro vivace - Lento assai - Allegro vivace

Dmitri Alexeev, piano I
Nikolai Demidenko, piano II

Date: 1993
Label: Hyperion
http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDH55337

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Review

GRAMOPHONE EDITOR'S CHOICE

This beautifully planned and executed disc fills one with a special sense of warmth and gratitude. For not only were Medtner and Rachmaninov friends (and their friendship survived Rachmaninov's immense popularity and Medtner's obscurity) but Alexeev and Demidenko, no less Russians to their fingertips—are also friends and co-students of Dmitri Bashkirov. How magnificently they set out to redress the balance and proclaim Medtner's wholly individual genius (''The Moscow nights, the Russian springs, the basilicas and bards of his young manhood, such was his heritage, a chalice of dreams and memories to hold for always''), separating each strand of his intricate and vivacious arguments. Naturally, all Medtner-lovers—and they are now gratifyingly many—will want to hear the composer's own legendary partnership with Moiseiwitsch recently reissued by EMI, but Alexeev and Demidenko run it close.

Moving to slightly more familiar ground, how Rachmaninov relishes the two-piano medium in his Russian Rhapsody, exploiting added resource and glitter for all they are worth. And it would be a poor Russian emigre who did not find his eyes pricking at this timeless evocation of custom and festivity. The Symphonic Dances, too, are no less finely played. Try the poco a poco accelerando at 6'37'' in No. 2 (tempo di valse) and note, also, how Alexeev and Demidenko are as remarkable when lost in bittersweet reflection as they are in dazzling virtuosity. Few could respond more intensely to that endless protracted sigh at 8'24'' in the finale. The Second Suite is also a major success even if the ''Romance'' is a trifle cool and uninflected. And while the ''Valse'' is admirably fleet and assured it hardly erases memories of Argerich and Freire on Philips (a performance that rides high on anyone's list of pianistic wizardry, 10/83—nla). By comparison Alexeev and Demidenko are too plain-sailing. But, more generally, let nothing deter you from this disc which is, overall, a marvel of precision and commitment, very finely recorded.

-- Bryce Morrison, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2009/Aug09/Rachmaninov_CDH55337.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2009/Oct09/Rachmaninov_CDH55337.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Russian-Music-Pianos-Nikolay-Medtner/dp/B000002ZST

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Nikolai Medtner (5 January 1880 [O.S. 24 December 1879] – 13 November 1951) was a Russian composer and pianist. A younger contemporary of Rachmaninoff and \Scriabin, he wrote a substantial number of compositions, all of which include the piano. His works include fourteen piano sonatas, three violin sonatas, three piano concerti, a piano quintet, two works for two pianos, many shorter piano pieces, a few shorter works for violin and piano, and 108 songs including two substantial works for vocalise. Despite his conservative musical tastes, Medtner's compositions and his pianism were highly regarded by his contemporaries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Medtner

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Sergei Rachmaninov (1 April [O.S. 20 March] 1873 – 28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He is widely considered as one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music. Some of his works are among the most popular in the romantic repertoire. His style is notable for its song-like melodicism, expressiveness and his use of rich orchestral colors. The piano is featured prominently in Rachmaninoff's compositional output, and through his own skills as a performer he explored the expressive possibilities of the instrument.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Rachmaninoff

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Dmitri Alexeev (born 10 August 1947 in Moscow) is a Russian pianist. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory, and additionally under Dmitri Bashkirov. In the 1970s Alexeev made his debuts in London, Vienna, Chicago and New York, and also won the Leeds Piano Competition in 1975. He now teaches at the Royal College of Music in London. Alexeev's repertoire, part of which has been recorded, includes works by Alexander Scriabin, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Sergei Prokofiev, Frédéric Chopin, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Dmitri Shostakovich. He has also accompanied Barbara Hendricks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitri_Alexeev_(pianist)

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Nikolai Demidenko (born July 1, 1955, Aniskino) is a Soviet-Russian-born classical pianist. Demidenko studied at the Moscow Gnessin School with Anna Kantor and at the Moscow Conservatoire under Dmitri Bashkirov. In addition to a vast amount of the standard Germanic and Russian repertory, he is a specialist of Frédéric Chopin and a noted champion of the works of neglected composers, such as Carl Maria von Weber and Nikolai Medtner, as well as neglected works of well-known composers. Demidenko has been a resident in the UK since 1990, and won a Gramophone Award in 1992.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Demidenko

http://www.demidenko.net/

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