Despite his resolution not to become a concert pianist, Nicolas Medtner spent his life giving concerts throughout Europe and America. He was forced i nto it as the only way of getting his own works played. Today Donald Macleod discusses works which drew the praise of Rachmaninov but the hostility of the critics.
Fairy Tale for piano, Op 51 No 1 Performed by the Composer
Before Work; At the Anvil (Hymns in Praise of Toil, Nos 1 and 2) Geoffrey Tozer (piano)
Winter Evening, Op 13 No 1; Spanish
Romance (Pushkin Poems, Op 36 No 4) Zara Dolukhanova (mezzo), Nina Svetlanova (piano)
Piano Concerto No 1 Dmitri Alexeev , BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conductor Alexander Titov