Medtner: Complete Piano Sonatas, Forgotten Melodies I, II

Having come to this monumental recording expecting to be schooled by the player on performance and the composer on creation, I learned, however, that my expectations reflected a innocence and naiveté not experienced since my childhood exposure to Tchaikovsky. Having heard snippets of Medtner, and reading about the emerging contemporary awareness of his place with the Russian giants, I hunted briefly for a 'good example' of the work to review. I immediately learned of Marc-Andre Hamelin's recording of the Sonatas, for good reason, I now know.Here was the answer to all the questions I had; What is Medtner's place in the Russian cannon? Why was he considered a master by his contemporaries? How do his musical creations stand as original art? How much attention and concentration is required to truly find this music and take it home to your heart and soul? Here we find the answers so grandly displayed that they seem self-evident.Here we find that magic when performance melds with composition in a place rarely found beyond the composer's own playing of his composition. Here Hamelin seems to 'channel' Medtner, if I may be so bold having not the pleasure of hearing Medtner play Medtner. This is the only aspect by which one might deem these recordings to be 'second best'.Upon first hearing I was stunned. On second hearing I was shaken. On third hearing I was stirred to the core. The more I listen, the more I hear; the more I hear the more I come to regard Medtner as the greatest Russian composer, and the more highly I regard Medtner, the more thankful I am that Hamelin gave this gift to us all. Don't hold back even for a minute--get it on and in at your earliest possible convenience.

What a magical performance. Wow. If you like Medtner, this is man to play him. This music is not easy -- it is gentle but full of tension and you can't figure out why!!! It is intense and full of texture and depth. Mr. Hamelin has done the world a great favor in presenting this composer's music with such respect and devotion. By far the best understanding of the music. Bravo. I will look for more performances by Mr. Hamelin. Thank you so much for all you bring to this effort. They are smiling in Mysore.

We heard the "Night Wind" in a live concert and were floored at how beautiful it was. I knew I had to find more of Nickolai Medtner's sonatas but this is the only recording generally available with all of his sonatas. It is fabulous!! Medtner's work is completely engaging in that it is dense with melody and counter-melody and unrelenting beauty. Hamelin brings this all alive with perfect touch. You will find yourself totally engrossed in all this music. It is totally wonderful, how could this have ever been lost?

Medtner is unfairly overlooked as a composer, for a number of reasons. He was one of the more conservative composers of his progressive times, but at the same time his "conservative" compositions were not the most accessible of music. Plus he was very bad at the social graces and getting along with people.But he should be regarded as the composer of "mighty" piano repertoire, the very pinnacle of the classical tradition of form and development, and unique in its combination of features. It is impossible to pin Medtner down, he is not just "Lisztian" or "Brahmsian"; one constantly thinks of such disparate "influences" as Tchaikovsky and J.S. Bach. He certainly belongs with Rachmaninov among the most worthy 20th-century conservative composer-pianists.And yet for all the constant criticism of Medtner's music as "cerebral", having listened to a lot of it and played (stumbled) through a lot of it at the piano, I constantly experience, among the varied musical themes popping into my head begging me to remember where they are from, themes from Medtner. One tends to dismiss the idea that his music contained felicitous or "catchy" themes, and yet I have come round to believe that it is rich in memorable melodic ideas. Some critics simply lack patience and maybe even the musical capability to appreciate it.One admits the constant ornamentation and busywork and sometimes wishes for more relaxation in Medtner, but I have come to liken his music to cathedrals which have both magnificent structure and proportion, and intense ornamentation. One can be overwhelmed by the ornamentation when one is focused on one spot, and then the next, and then the next; and yet the whole is magnificent and balanced. Regard this as a feature of Medtner's music, something making it unique, rather than a criticism that de-facto wishes his music to be more like other composers.It may be unfair of me to award 4 stars rather than 5, but this is because I concede that Mr Hamelin, probably accurately interpreting the intentions of the composer himself, plays this music most of the time at breakneck speed, impressing with the technical dexterity; and yet having played (stumbled) through this music myself, I constantly wish for the wealth of musical ideas to be better allowed to be seen in some places by performers taking the passages a little less rapidly. The ornamentation is often no ordinary ornamentation, but full of unique configurations and patterns, and yet played "prestissimo possible" it blurs into something that might as well be "just another scale" or glissando. It is like walking around the cathedral too briskly and missing the unique quality of the ornamentation.

Nikolai Medtner's piano music is enormously difficult and little-played today. But Rachmaninoff was a big fan.If you like Rachmaninoff's continually revelatory piano music, these pieces by Medtner do work that same kind of magic.

Take a great composer, the greatest active pianist of today, stir well, and you get this marvelous 4 CD collection. Rachmaninoff got it right when he twice told Medtner that he (Medtner) was the greatest composer of "our time". Hamelin has the skill to make us understand that. Medtner: Complete Piano Sonatas, Forgotten Melodies / Hamelin

There is amazing richness in these often overlooked works that should be heard by anyone interested in piano music from this period. Hamelin's playing is faultless and reveals nuance after nuance.

Great music from an obscure composer who should be better known.

Hamish Milne's set is very good indeed. It also has the bonus of shorter works (many of which are well worth hearing) and some longer ones - particularly the incredible Improvisation no 2 (half-an-hour of exotic, demonic variations).There is a set by Geoffrey Tozer which was probably the best when it was issued (90s or early 2000s). Digital sound and, again, lots of extra pieces.But if you want the very best, complete Sonatas, in a reference recording, by the finest pianist of your generation, in the best sound available: Hamelin is the set to buy and keep forever.

もっと粘っこく歌ってほしいと思うこともあるけど、総じてとても素晴らしい演奏です。全集として一つの金字塔と言えるでしょう。

This incredible collection contains my all-time favourite piano music. Medtner was indeed a gifted composer for piano. He had no shortage of ingenuity or creative wellsprings. This collections brings together all his solo piano music. His work is often guided by musical principles or based on religious themes, which is interesting to think about when listening.Hamelin performs this music like nobody else can.And the sound quality (as with all Hamelin's recordings with Hyperion) is superb in all regards. Highly recommended.This is an essential part of my permanent collection.

Que dire de plus que le commentaire de "bernelas l'insoumis" n'ait dit? ....je voudrais juste ajouter que de tels enregistrements devraient être "obligatoires" pour tout pianiste digne de ce nom et désirant connaître ,apprécier et ....peut-être ....travailler ! un répertoire pianistique notoire!Des trois grands RUSSES virtuoses et compositeurs: Rachmaninov, Scriabine,Medtner ce dernier est le moins connu ,le moins joué surtout ...et c'est très dommage car ses sonates sont toutes des petits (et grands) joyaux....2 Volumes de plus de 230 pages chacun.....beaucoup de notes ...beaucoup de traits .....la tête vous en tourne car des difficultés techniques il y en a tout le long à chaque coin de page....hallucinant...!Je le répète ce coffret est un exploit ,un exploit de pianiste...de preneur de son aussi ,car les couleurs infinies du piano de Medtner peuvent être estompées ,voir enfouies par une mauvaise prise de son.....ce n'est pas le cas ici....comme pour les sonates de Scriabine enregistrées par le même phénomène qu'est Marc-André Hamelin (voir mon évaluation..) nous ne "fatiguons" jamais à cause de la prise de son ....le piano est restitué dans toute sa richesse et ses chatoiements ,ses nuances infinies ...des ppp imperceptibles mais pourtant audibles....des fff jamais forcés ni clinquants...une richesse de timbres sans doute désirée par le grand pianiste qu'était lui -même Medtner .....pourquoi de telles sonates ont-elles dû attendre un pianiste comme Marc-André Hamelin pour être enregistrées DANS LEUR INTEGRALITE...,?...sans doute parce qu'il y faut une très haute dose de talent ,de technique ,d'endurance et surtout de volonté et de courage pour s'y lancer ...et y réussir...!Ce coffret extraordinaire sera un des joyaux de votre discotèque tout comme celui des sonates de Sriabine et celui des "études Chopin-Godowsky" par le même pianiste ...pianiste un peu E T ..il faut bien le dire.

Merci à Marc-André Hamelin, d'avoir pris le risque d'enregistrer ces sonates: enfin un pianiste qui sort des sentiers battus, tant de musique à découvrir un effet. Ces sonates sont complexes mais l'on perçoit toujours les thèmes, elles sont très mélodiques, on les a dans l'oreille dès la première écoute. Les amoureux de Rachmaninov ne seront pas dépaysés. Hypérion, tout comme CPO, fait toujours des disques très intéressants avec mention spéciale pour les notices très riches, comme ici.