The music of Russian composer-pianist Nikolai Medtner is not so commonly heard these days, but as pianist Steven Osborne points out in his notes to this fine Hyperion release, he makes a fine complement to Rachmaninov. Both composers were pianists at the highest level; both came to America (Medtner abandoning the experience after a disastrous bounced check), they were good friends, and both detested modern musical trends. For all that, the two sonatas here create markedly different effects. The Medtner Piano Sonata in B ...
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The music of Russian composer-pianist Nikolai Medtner is not so commonly heard these days, but as pianist Steven Osborne points out in his notes to this fine Hyperion release, he makes a fine complement to Rachmaninov. Both composers were pianists at the highest level; both came to America (Medtner abandoning the experience after a disastrous bounced check), they were good friends, and both detested modern musical trends. For all that, the two sonatas here create markedly different effects. The Medtner Piano Sonata in B flat minor, Op. 53/1 ("Sonata Romantica"), is a carefully constructed piece that one might liken to Beethoven on steroids. It probably deserves wider exposure, and this tumultuous performance by Scots pianist Steven Osborne, a specialist in just this kind of intelligent but string-breaking repertoire, may give it just that. Rachmaninov, by contrast, is structurally loose enough that he revised his own Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 36, and allowed Vladimir Horowitz to combine...
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![Medtner/ Rachmaninov: Sonatas [Steven Osborne] [Hyperion: Cda67936]](https://www3.alibris-static.com/cover/n92828u4ed1_t.jpg)
