Medtner - 6 Skazki Op. 51 (Kholodenko)

This set of skazki, dedicated to Cinderella and Ivan the Fool, contains some of the sweetest, fantastical and unique music, written by Medtner. And the recording by Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko is probably the best one out there.


00:00 - I
The first piece, in D minor, is where the characters of the tale are introduced, according to program notes from one of Medtners recitals in the United States. It is quite a thrilling peace to listen to and might just be my favorite of the set.

6:32 - II
The second piece is, according to the aformentioned programme notes, the song of Cinderella, and is fittingly very lyrical.

9:36 - III
The third piece begins in a peaceful fashion, which is very misleading when considering how the majority of the piece goes. The sweet melody of the introduction soon explodes into a wild flight.

13:49 - IV
The fourth piece, I can only describe as magical. Here is one of the clearest examples of the unmatched lyricism which Medtner music possesses.

18:40 - V
The fifth is marked 'Presto' and Kholodenkos recording does not dissappoint. Throughout this short movement, triplets soar up and down the keyboard whilst the other hand attempts to keep up. There is a lot of rythmic and harmonic complexity in this piece, but with such a short duration, the listener is never exausted. And finally, in the last few bars, we get one crazy chord as a final bit of compositional showing-off.

21:03 - VI
The finale, Medtner revealed, is the dance of the fool. It begins with a few bars of stumbling introduction, before we get a fragile dance. Much of the piece builts on the rhythm of this sweet dance, before it returns in a much greater fashion at the end of the piece.