Philharmonia Orchestra - Lloyd: The Symphonies Nos. 7-12 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

?The two sonatas published by Medtner as his Opus 25 make a salutary contrast - the longest and most taxing of his sonatas placed alongside a sonatina-like work possibly intended for children. Apart from showing the range of the composer's imagination and his capacity to build musical structures that show the most careful craftsmanship, these two sonatas reveal a view of the world that is very Medtnerian a pairing of something childlike with the heroic and terrifying. 'In Medtner you find the whole complexity of life,' says Dina Parakhina. 'He built his spiritual cathedrals out of chaos.' Op.25 No.1 is known as the 'Fairy Tale' Sonata, and it's four concise movements really do sound as if they deal with fairies, giants, witches and goblins. The Six Fairy Tales Op.51 further illuminate this side of Medtner's musical personality. Dina Parakhina hears a Russian figure of the Fool in No.2, and Cinderella in the balletic turns of No.3, 'the most lyrical, elegant and feminine in style' and perhaps a portrait of his wife. Medtner prefaced the mighty Op.25 No.2 Sonata with a poem by Fyodor Tyutchev 'Night wind, night wind, why do you howl?' Longer than half an hour, this single movement invites comparison with the B minor Sonata of Liszt and the final sonata of Beethoven as a summit of late-Romantic piano literature, which absorbs tempests and idylls within his personal synthesis of German, contrapuntal rigour and Russian lyricism. The Russian-born pianist Dina Parakhina has Medtner's music in her blood and under her fingers, as a student at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire at the top of a class which included Mikhail Pletnev. She became a professor of piano there before moving to the UK, where she teaches at the Royal College of Music and Royal Northern College, as well as performing around the country. Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951) was born in Moscow. After piano lesson

Album Tracks 1. Ave Rex - Welsh National Opera Chorus 2. Alleulya, a New Work Is Come on Hand - Welsh National Opera Chorus 3. There Is No Rose of Such Virtue - Welsh National Opera Chorus 4. Sir Christemas - Welsh National Opera Chorus 5. Ave Rex - Welsh National Opera Chorus 6. Elegy for a Prince Op.59 - Sir Geraint Evans 7. Part One Spring (Youth) - Sir David Willcocks 8. Part Two Summer (Maturity) - Sir David Willcocks 9. Part Three Autumn (Decline)/Part Four Winter (Death) - Sir David Willcocks

Album Tracks 1. I. Allegro Moderato E Feroce - Moderato Espressivo - Tempo I 2. II. Lento Solenne 3. III. Allegro Maestoso - Allegro Vivace Ma Non Troppo Presto 4. I. Lento Moderato - Allegro Moderato - Allegro Feroce - Piã¹ Lento - Lento Moderato - Allegro Modera 5. II. Lento 6. III. Moderato - Piã¹ Mosso - Tempo I - Epilogue. Poco Lento 1. I. Molto Moderato - Allegro Moderato - Molto Largamente - Moderato Semplice - Tempo I - Allegro Mod 2. II. Andante - Piã¹ Mosso - Poco Largamente - Tempo I 3. III. Poco Largamente - Allegro Feroce - Meno Mosso - Molto Largamente 4. I. Allegro Moderato 5. II. Lento Moderato - Piã¹ Mosso (Allegro Moderato) - Poco Largamente - Tempo I 6. III. Allegro - Allegro Scherzando - Tempo Di Marcia Trionfale - Piã¹ Largamente - Vivo 1. I. Poco Lento - Allegro Con Fuoco - Dolce Meno Mosso - a Tempo I (Allegro Con Fuoco) - Moderato - T 2. II. Poco Lento - Molto Tranquillo - Tempo I 3. III. Poco Moderato - Allegro - Lento - Tempo I (Allegro) - Epilogue. Doppio Movimento Alla Breve - 4. I. Moderato - Allegro Con Fuoco 5. II. Lento, Molto Espressivo - Andante Con Moto - Meno Mosso - Piã¹ Lento 6. III. Introduction. Lento Moderato - Poco Piã¹ Vivo - Scherzo and Trio. Allegro Vivace - Andante Semp 1. I. Allegro - Poco Meno Mosso - Tempo I - Poco Largamente - Tempo I 2. II. Lento - Piã¹ Mosso. In Legendary Mood - Tempo I 3. III. Theme and Variations Allegro - Theme. Meno Mosso - Tempo I - Meno Mosso - Andante - Piã¹ Mosso 1. Introduction 2. Bax and Vaughan Williams 3. Bax and His Musical Influences 4. First Symphony 5. Second Symphony and Third Symphony 6. Fourth Symphony 7. Fifth Symphony 8. Sixth Symphony 9. Seventh Symphony 10. Epilogue