MEDTNER: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor; RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor (Orig. 1926 version); Floods of Spring (from 12 Songs Op. 14; piano solo) – Yevgeny Sudbin, piano/ North Carolina Symphony/ Grant Llewellyn – BIS multichannel SACD-1728, 73:53 **** [Distr. by Qualiton]:
Sudbin is one of the most exciting of the younger Russian pianists, and this new recording encores his SACD of the Medtner Concerto No. 1 which he did earlier for BIS. He also has albums out of Scriabin and Scarlatti; seems to be specializing in my personal favorite keyboard music. This album makes a wonderful pairing up of works, and not only because both concertos are in a similar big virtuoso Romantic style but also because Medtner dedicated his Second Concerto to Rachmaninoff, and Rachmaninoff dedicated his Fourth Concerto to Medtner! It turns out the two were close friends and created both of their concertos about the same time in the 1920s.
The Concerto No. 2 is a gem, just as fine a piece as any of the Rachmaninoff concertos – perhaps better. In addition to the very Russian depth of emotion, there is more development and counterpoint than in Rachmaninoff, and a beautiful solo cadenza in the first movement. It is dramatic, lyrical and often majestic in nature, and Sudbin and the orchestra emphasize its power and drive. It’s a crime this concerto isn’t heard on as many concert programs as the Rachmaninoffs.
The Rachmaninoff Fourth is not the same old which you’ve been hearing over the years, which is probably the composer’s 1941 edited-down version. Instead it is his 1926 original version, which is a bit longer overall, especially in the final movement. What has been returned to the concerto sounds like echt Rachmaninoff all right, and Sudbin and the fine regional orchestra bring it off superbly. They receive the expected crystalline surround soundfield that BIS provides. Hyperion’s Romantic Piano Concerto Series, which offers all three Medtner concertos, is a fine resource, but the standard CDs can’t hold a candle to this hi-res SACD.
The closing encore piece was transcribed for piano solo by Sudbin from the orchestration of a Rachmaninoff song. It was used for one of the spectacular hits of the Bolshoi Ballet, which featured a female dancer soaring across the stage into the arms of her partner. The music is quintessential all-stops-out emotional Rachmaninoff, and Sudbin’s virtuoso reduction for piano preserves all the drama of the original.
– John Sunier
