Medtner, 1930s Nikolai Medtner

Historic recordings for download

Except where indicated, tracks are 320Kbps mp3 files.

For pdf scans of The Muse and the Fashion and other books and articles, see Publications. For sources of pdf scores see digital sheet music.
Medtner 1946-50
Until recently the piano concerto no.1 was also not commercially available, but it can now be obtained from St-Laurent Studio whose transfer is superior to the version offered here, and Historic Recordings. St Laurent also offers the best available transfers of the famous Schwarzkopf–Medtner recordings, the only CD transfers of the Op 28 no 5 and Op 29 no 2 songs with Slobodskaya, and three 1931 recordings by Makushina–Medtner not previously released in any format.

All extant recordings of the solo piano works, plus the violin sonata no 1 with Cecilia Hansen, are available on three CDs on the Appian label. Almost all these recordings are also available from St Laurent. Piano concertos nos 2 and 3 are available from Testament and St-Laurent.
Medtner in HMV studio, 1947

Medtner in HMV studio, 1947
Dolukhanova/Kozel 1955
See notes to Op 36.
Dolukhanova/Erokhin 1958 (live)
Zara Dolukhanova

Zara Dolukhanova
Yakov Flier

Yakov Flier
Ginsburg 1957
The first commercial recording of the reminiscenza, and one of the best
Flier 1959-60
Petri 1958 (live)
Made towards the end of his life, aged 77
Kazantseva/Bernar 1948-55
A lively performance of the sonata-vocalise, made a few years after Ritchie/Medtner. Geweihter Platz is sung in Russian.
Rozhdestvenskaya/Bernar 1947-52
Shaposhnikov/Lebedev 1953-55
Sofronitsky 1947
Oistrakh/Goldenweiser 1959
Grigory Ginsburg

Grigory Ginsburg


Nadezhda Kazantseva

Nadezhda Kazantseva


Vladimir Sofronitsky

Vladimir Sofronitsky


Alexander Goldenweiser

Alexander Goldenweiser
Egon Petri

Egon Petri


Natalia Rozhdestvenskaya

Natalia Rozhdestvenskaya


Sergei Shaposhnikov and Yevgeny Lebedev

Sergei Shaposhnikov and Yevgeny Lebedev


David Oistrakh

David Oistrakh

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