Medtner & Rachmaninoff: Piano Works Yevgeny Sudbin

• 1 No. 1. Prologue: Andante cantabile 03:45
• 2 No. 3 in A Major 03:24
• 3 No. 1. Sonata reminiscenza (44kHz) 13:09
• 4 No. 1. Allegro con espressione (44kHz) 02:37
• 5 No. 1. Allegretto frescamente (44kHz) 02:31
• 6 No. 4. Canzon matinata 04:01
• 7 No. 5. Sonata tragica 09:50
• 8 No. 4 in D Major: Andante cantabile 04:02
• 9 No. 5 in G Minor: Alla marcia 03:38
• 10 No. 5 in G Major: Moderato 02:41
• 11 No. 6 in F Minor: Allegro appassionato 01:21
• 12 No. 12 in G-Sharp Minor: Allegro 02:18
• 13 No. 13 in D-Flat Major: Grave - Allegro 04:40
• Total Runtime 57:57

Info for Medtner & Rachmaninoff: Piano Works

Having previously released recordings of Medtner's three piano concertos as well as three of Rachmaninov's five concertante works, Yevgeny Sudbin on the present disc combines solo pieces by the two friends and fellow-composers. From Sergei Rachmaninov's rich and varied production he has chosen six of the celebrated preludes, including 'Alla marcia' in G minor (Op. 23 No. 5) as well as the much-loved Prelude No. 12 in G sharp minor from the Op. 32 set. But Sudbin, who is a great admirer of Nikolai Medtner, opens his new disc with a generous selection of that composer's solo piano music. This section begins with the Prologue from Stimmungsbilder, the eighteen-year-old composer's Opus 1, and closes with Sonata tragica, composed shortly before Medtner left Russia in 1921, never to return. It also includes three of the thirty-some Fairy Tales that Medtner composed throughout his life. 'No one tells such tales as Kolya', Rachmaninov used to joke affectionately, and with these pieces Medtner created his own, unique genre. He himself used the Russian word skazka or German Märchen to describe them, and in his liner notes Yevgeny Sudbin suggests that the creative impulse came not only from folklore but also from such diverse sources as Pushkin, Shakespeare and even the Bible. As an interpreter of both these composers, Sudbin has proven himself both in concert and on disc, with previous recordings being named 'Disc of the Month' in Gramophone, 'Essential Recording' in BBC Music Magazine and '10/10' on ClassicsToday.com, to mention just a few of the distinctions awarded them.

“A wondrous disc…[Sudbin] seems to have an exceptional affinity with Medtner’s language. He brings both his heart and his head into play when performing these pieces. His head tackles and illuminates textures and harmonies that might seem opaque and knotty on a first study of the scores; his heart is then harnessed to convey the extraordinary sensibility, passion and thoroughly individual cast of melody that courses through the music” (Gramophone Magazine)

Yevgeny Sudbin, piano

Yevgeny Sudbin
has been hailed by The Telegraph as ‘potentially one of the greatest pianists of the 21st century’. As BIS Records’ only exclusive artist, all of Yevgeny’s recordings have met with critical acclaim and are regularly featured as CD of the Month by BBC Music Magazine or Editor’s Choice by Gramophone. His Scriabin recording was awarded CD of the Year by The Telegraph and received the MIDEM Classical Award for Best Solo Instrument Recording at Cannes. It was described by Gramophone as ‘a disc in a million’ while the International Record Review stated that Yevgeny’s Rachmaninov recording ‘confirms him as one of the most important pianistic talents of our time’.

Yevgeny performs regularly in many of the world's finest venues and concert series, both in recital and with orchestra, including Tonhalle Zurich; Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall (International Piano Series) and Wigmore Hall (London Pianoforte Series) in London; Concertgebouw (Meesterpianisten, Amsterdam); Avery Fisher Hall (New York) and Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco). Recent engagements and tours have included orchestras such as New Zealand Symphony, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Lucerne Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. His performance of Rachmaninov's Concerto No.1 at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall was described by The Telegraph as ‘sublime.’

Yevgeny has collaborated with some of the world’s most influential conductors, such as Neeme Järvi, Charles Dutoit, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Osmo Vänskä, Hannu Lintu, Tugan Sokhiev, Mark Wigglesworth, Andrew Litton, Dmitri Slobodeniouk and Vassily Sinaisky. His love of chamber music has led him to collaborate with many other musicians including Alexander Chaushian, Ilya Gringolts, Hilary Hahn, Julia Fischer, the Chilingirian Quartet and many others. Appearances at festivals include Aspen, Mostly Mozart, Tivoli, Nohant, La Roque d'Antheron, Menton and Verbier.

Recent and future engagements include concerts and recording projects with the Tapiola Sinfonetta and Osmo Vänskä, Netherlands Philharmonic and Ivor Bolton, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Michael Seal, Rotterdam Philharmonic and Stanislav Kochanovsky, and extensive touring in North America. He also returns to many recital stages, including the Wigmore Hall, Moscow International House of Music and Serate Musicali (Milan).

Yevgeny was born in St Petersburg in 1980 and began his musical studies at the Specialist Music School of the St Petersburg Conservatory with Lyubov Pevsner at the age of 5. He emigrated with his family to Germany in 1990 where he continued his studies at Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule (Galina Ivanzova). In 1997 Yevgeny moved to London to study at the Purcell School and subsequently the Royal Academy of Music where he completed his Bachelor and Masters degrees under Christopher Elton. He was supported by the Hattori and Pulvermacher Foundations as well as The Wall Trust, of which he is now Vice President. In 2010, he was awarded a Fellowship by Academy and is now a Visiting Professor.

Booklet for Medtner & Rachmaninoff: Piano Works