NIKOLAY MEDTNER (1880–1951)

COMPLETE PIANO SONATAS • 2

PAUL STEWART

“The music of Medtner is a perfect balance of emotion and intellect, ‘heart and head’. Distinctly Russian, filled with warm, heartfelt melody and rich harmony, it is also crafted with great discipline and logic. It is a special joy for me to share my passion for this glorious music with new audiences. The five sonatas contained on this disc span three decades, from early triumphs in Moscow, to disillusionment and exile in London in the 1930s, and include what was once his most played work: a fairy tale in sonata form, the delightful Sonata-Skazka. ” – Paul Stewart

About this Recording

Nikolay Medtner’s 14 piano sonatas are considered among the most significant achievement in this genre by any composer since Beethoven. After the success of his First Piano Sonata (GP617) he turned to Goethe for inspiration, and the life and love-affirming Sonata-Triad Op. 11 translates the poet’s words of passion, suffering and redemption into sound. The capricious, mysterious and beautiful Sonata-Skazka is a masterpiece in miniature and was once Medtner’s most performed work. Dating from his years of exile, the Sonata- Idyll, Medtner’s fourteenth and final Sonata, is notable for its eloquent themes that linger long in the memory.

PAUL STEWART

Canadian pianist Paul Stewart appears frequently in concert throughout Canada, the USA (including Carnegie Hall, New York and the Kennedy Center, Washington), Mexico, South America, the United Kingdom, Europe, South Africa and Asia. He has collaborated with such artists as James Ehnes, Maureen Forrester, Ben Heppner, Jessye Norman, Mstislav Rostropovich, Pinchas Zukerman, and the Leipzig, Prague and Moscow String Quartets. For Grand Piano he is currently recording the complete piano sonatas of Nikolay Medtner, a composer he has championed and performed on four continents. Volume 1 in this series received enthusiastic critical acclaim: “... Stewart launches a deeply personal and complex project with unfailing mastery and acute stylistic awareness” (Gramophone). “This is pianism at its pinnacle. Stewart’s dynamic range is amazing… but through all the virtuosic wizardry that leaves one agape, there emerges an artist of poetic sensitivity who makes every measure of Medtner’s music sing” (Fanfare). Paul Stewart has been a Professor of Piano at the Université de Montréal, Canada since 2002.