In September, Brilliant Classics will release the successful Edition of the Complete Songs by Nikolai Medtner, performed by Ekaterina Levental (mezzo-soprano) and Frank Peters (piano), as a 5-CD box set. This edition represents one of the most significant vocal projects of recent years.

Nikolai Medtner was born in Moscow in 1880. After receiving piano lessons from his mother, he entered the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied with Pavel Pabst and Sergei Taneyev. At the age of 20, he won the prestigious Anton Rubinstein Prize. A younger contemporary of Scriabin and Rachmaninov, Medtner was destined for a brilliant career as a pianist but chose instead to devote himself to composition. In 1936, he settled in London, where he spent the remainder of his life teaching and composing until his death in 1951.

Medtner’s style is rooted in the 19th century—richly romantic, with a highly personal harmonic and melodic language, often complex and dense yet of haunting beauty. His vocal works combine intricate piano writing with expressive melodies and poetic texts, often by Goethe, Pushkin, or Tyutchev.

(Photo credit: Marije van den Berg)