Arensky / Rachmaninov / Medtner / Prokofiev: Tribute To The Masters: Russian Piano Music – Julia Sigova

This album is built on a net of human and musical relationships which connected some of the major figures of Russian culture and music between the late nineteenth and the twentieth century. In the great Russian cities, artists could meet their equals, study with the most important teachers, and either adopt or refuse the aesthetic models transmitted to them. Unavoidably, deep friendships and powerful enmities sprouted, whereby the mutual aesthetic evaluations dovetailed with personal sympathy or antipathy. Arensky, Rachmaninov, Medtner and Prokofiev were all related to each other, more or less directly. Together, their works demonstrate the power of reciprocal admiration and knowledge among composers – which, of course, does not rule out a certain amount of, at times healthy, rivalry –; while each not only maintained, but rather developed his own style, this was the result of a wider process involving the music and the culture of the era, and which shines clearly in our ears when we listen to their works.