Vergessene Weisen: Russian piano music of the 20th Century

Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951)
Alexander Skrjabin (1872-1915)
Georges Catoire (1861-1929)
Nikolai Roslavez (1881-1944)

Anna Zassimova, piano

The program of this CD revolves around two historical centers. The previous section, represented by Catoire, Opus 12 and Scriabin-piece, represents the music of the last century. It is the late period of the Russian Czarist regime, the revolutions before the serious upheavals and wars that the country in the years 1905, 1914 and then afflicting mainly from 1917. The second priority includes music of the years 1919 to 1926, created after the First World War, the overthrow of the Tsarist regime and the October Revolution. Can expect only the distance of two decades, a stylistic evolution, thus saith the radical socio-political, economic and cultural upheaval from 1905 to 1920 for a clearly visible division of the repertoire. Although the late Catoire-pieces and Roslavets-Préludes audible sound, unlike the compositions from the period before 1900, are the piano pieces collected here are still a compatible group. From the repercussion of that revolution, tumult, the hardships and anxieties of creators and are hardly felt. Sharpened harsher accents and melodies here, experimental Klangfortschreitungen there - but no. Thus, the color richness of this compilation is based more on the presentation qualities of the pianist and the sequence of variable pieces than on the membership of various excerpts of the music and cultural history.