Search - Nikolay Medtner, Geoffrey Tozer :: The Piano Works of Nikolai Medtner, Vol. 7

Superb music, well played

G.D. | Norway | 02/04/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"One really must wonder how Medtner was allowed to sink into near oblivion after his death, for the (fortunately) rather substantial number of discs devoted to his music that has appeared in latter years, reveals a truly first-rate composer of outstanding music, including several masterpieces. Tozer's cycle on Chandos is probably the best complete Medtner cycle to date, and volume 7 is another fine release - and this time, competition is also less fierce than it is for the music on some of the previous releases (although, it should be emphasized, these are still for the most part superb works whose relative neglect is hard to fathom).



Now, although Medtner's music shares some of the atmospheric nostalgia and emotional turmoil of Rachmaninov, it is more introspective and perhaps not as easily approachable. The tunes are less obvious, the harmonic developments a little more opaque, but in the end music is possibly more profound as well. Listen to e.g. the E major Dithyramb here - a rather early work - which is of an almost otherworldly shimmering beauty or the haunted and ominous darkness underlying the op. 20 no. 4 Fairy Tale, to pick some examples more or less at random. The richness and depth Medtner packs into these relatively short works is almost peerless (in fact, to give a more suggestive stylistic pointer than Rachmaninov; think of a mixture of the late Brahms piano music and middle-to-late Scriabin; although Medtner, of course, has his own voice).



And Tozer's playing is good as well, with smoldering intensity, opulence and fierceness as required. He has an unerring grasp of the music; tempo choices always feel right, and the approach to the music is convincing - in addition, that is, to his ability to bring out textural nuances and shadings. One might, perhaps, sometimes miss the last ounce of sheer brilliance in some of the pieces, but this is not really a major complaint. No complaints about sound quality or notes either. Strongly recommended."