Piano Concertos by Tchaikovsky & Medtner [Hybrid SACD]

Piano Concertos by Tchaikovsky & Medtner [Hybrid SACD]

Piano Concertos by Tchaikovsky & Medtner [Hybrid SACD]
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Composer: Nikolay Medtner
Composer: Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
Conductor: John Neschling
Orchestra: Orquestra Sinfónica do Estado de São Paulo - OSESP
Orchestra: São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSESP)
Performer: Yevgeny Sudbin
Edition: Music CD
Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD, Import
CD Release Date: 2007-03-27
Music Label: Bis
Soundtracks:
  1. Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23: 1. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso
  2. Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23: 2. Andantino simplice
  3. Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23: 3. Allegro con fuoco
  4. Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor, Op. 33: Allegro-
  5. Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor, Op. 33: Tranquillo, meditamente-
  6. Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor, Op. 33: Tempo 1-
  7. Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor, Op. 33: Coda. Allegro molto
  8. Aus 'Claudine von Villa-Bella' I ('Liebliches Kind'), song for voice & piano, Op. 6/5: Liebliches Kind!

Music reviews of Piano Concertos by Tchaikovsky & Medtner [Hybrid SACD]

Music Review: Sudbin, Neschling, Sao PauloSO: Good Tchaikovsky, Better Medtner: Recommended
Rating: 5 Stars

This super audio disc can be highly recommended on three grounds. One for the sound, and one each for each of the two composers. First off the sound and technical production of the recorded performance are quite up to the high standards this label sets for itself. Multi-channel play is subtle but surrounds the listener in an encompassing and embracing manner. This sound most likely recreates the acoustic of the venue, presumably, and that venue would be the Sala Sao Paulo, Brazil. It sounds to be a medium sized hall with good frequency balances and a good balance between resonance and reflections which localize.

The Tchaikovsky performance emphasizes the piano concerto's musical claims. Though Sudbin and the band led by John Neschling (a film composer, including Pixote) are completely up to the technical and virtuoso demands of the music, sheer flash is never the point. At first hearing that approach may strike a listener as too low key, but I suspect that repeated hearings will wear well over the long run.

Nevertheless, the recorded competition in the Tchaikovsky first piano concerto is stiff. Even restricted to super audio, we have the likes of the famously famous Van Cliburn debut (remastered), Arkady Volodos out-Horowitzing Vladimir, Olga Kern on HM USA (rather dim and diffuse sound for SACD), Nikolai Lugansky on Pentatone (hampered a bit in Romantic effusiveness by Kent Nagano's strict competence), Scherbakov burning with heart and fire on Naxos, and that current high representative of worldwide piano flash, Lang Lang. Of this super audio group, surely the Cliburn and the Volodos and the Scherbakov will hold their own as time marches on.

If we widen our comparisons to include red book CD, then the field gets very crowded - including my own favs, Lazar Berman, Andrei Gavrilov, Nelson Freire, Gary Graffman, Peter Donohoe, Sviatoslav Richter, Martha Argerich , Emil Gilels, and Earl Wild under Fistoulari on Chesky.

Then the new disc moves on to give us the Medtner Piano Concerto 1, and the comparisons immediately shift. The amazing Scherbakov reappears in this group also. And we add in, Geoffrey Tozer, and Geoffrey Douglas Madge. One wonders why Barry Douglas is missing, or John Lill, from the recorded catalogue of these concertos. But the explanation is probably all about the reputation Medtner has for being hard to like on first hearings, although this same reputation admits that Medtner grows on people, both players and listeners with increased exposure.

I like Medtner, and so for me, this new recording of the first piano concerto is very welcome. I am a Scherbakov fan, too, but Sudbin and Neschling and Sao Paulo more than hold their own. In fact, I think this Medtner first piano concerto is a better reason to buy the disc than is the Tchaikovsky per se, just because we have so many other fine choices in that field. Not only does Medtner deserve the exposure, but given the sort of expert and loving attention Sudbin and associates give the composer in this recording, we could expect for his music to come even more out of the repertoire's margins. In addition to long and luscious Russian melodies, Medtner offers a modernized feel for evolving harmonies - rather like, but still different from, say, Nielsen - and a ability to juggle and mesh textures which like Reger try to bring polyphony back into the Late Romantic gesture. If fine performances like Sudbin's cannot aid the cause, then surely Medtner's cause is still lost. But this recording offers hope, just because it shows the composer is such a good light.

Tchaikovsky recommended, then, and Medtner highly recommended. Five stars. Hope this team gets around to the other two Medtner concertos, if not also the Tchaikovsky second. Kudos to the production team and the engineering team at BIS.
More Piano Concertos by Tchaikovsky & Medtner [Hybrid SACD] free music reviews:
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