NIKOLAI MEDTNER (1880-1951): Complete Skazki - Opp. 8, 9, 14, 30, 26, 31/3, 34, 35, 42, 48, 51, Romantic Sketches for the Young, Op. 54, Skazka (1915).

Description: These "tales", best described by Boris Asafiev as "tales about personal experience, about the conflicts of a man's inner life", cover most of Medtner's career but, more importantly, they cover practically every variety of emotion and experience, from little birdies chirping in trees to crushing depression and despair. Medtner being Medtner, most incline to the latter. Also included are four skazki, each preceded by a Prelude, which the composer produced in 1932 for his German publisher and which are much more on the calm, not to say radiant, side. 2 CDs. Hamish Milne (piano).