Hamish Milne was born in Salisbury in 1939 of Scottish parents.
He studied with Harold Craxton at the Royal Academy of Music and
then in Italy with Guido Agosti. In
Siena he attended the classes
of Casals, Cortot and Segovia. He has appeared as soloist with
most of the leading British orchestras and has given over two
hundred broadcasts for the BBC. For Hyperion he has recorded the
piano concertos of Lyapunov and the piano solos of Anatoly Alexandrov.
Long before that, and starting in the mid-1970s, he embarked on
a major project with CRD to record most of the Medtner piano output
apart from the concertos and songs. Some collectors will still
remember the double gatefold LP set which launched that series
and the Russian miniatures that adorned each LP sleeve. I see
from CRD’s website that if you
are a died in the wool adherent of the LP you can still order
that set but now the two LPs cost £21.99 – which is probably only
a little less than you will pay for this set as a whole.
Milne
did not record every one of Medtner’s sonatas so Brilliant
have, sensibly enough, gone to Chandos and agreed a licence
for the use of Tozer’s Sonata Reminiscenza Op. 38 No.
1 and Sonata-Idylle Op. 56. Marc-André Hamelin
recorded the complete sonatas for Hyperion in 1999 and Chandos
followed suit the same year with a set by Geoffrey Tozer.
Tozer has gone on to record at least four more discs of Medtner’s
solo piano music as well as the three piano concertos. In
2007 Milne released the world’s first complete cycle of the
Medtner Fairy-Tales (or Ballades or Skazki)
on two very tightly packed Hyperion CDs on CDA67491/2.
The first of the
Three Hymns in Praise of Toil is Before Work op.
49 no. 1. Its placidly cooling ascent to a momentary outburst
is followed by a falling back effortlessly into repose. Milne
is a fine advocate for the piece even if the composer's even
more peaceful version puts it slightly in the shade. Medtner
in old age delivers a magically poised reading on Appian APR
5546, disconcertingly suggestive of an April morning somewhere
near Chanctonbury rather than the Russian forest. Milne's
Sonata-Triad is restful and richly suggestive - basking
in a sombre damask glow. The first of the op. 17 Three
Novelles is entitled Daphnis and Chloe. It chimes
in nostalgic serenity. Milne is excellent and this time the
composer's dysjunct and halting version on Appian comes across
as almost stumbling in what requires a virtuosic poet of a
pianist. Earl Wild's version of the Second Improvisation
op. 47 is somnolent by comparison with Milne's fantastic
cavalcade. In the Four Skazki op. 34 Milne instantly
announces his way. In the Magic Violin with
its Kreisler tribute this is measured yet mercurially responsive
to Medtner's flickering changes. Recorded more recently by
Hyperion as part of their wonderful set of the complete Skazki
the sound is more cushioned and smooth but the performance
is very similar with attention again paid to the work's salon
jauntiness. The timing is about the same. The Meditazione
op. 39 No. 1 is more Pierrot-impressionistic than we may
be accustomed to from Medtner. Certainly there's nothing of
Brahms in this. I then listened to Irina Ossipova's version
on Arte Nova 74321 93121 2 (which includes both sets of Forgotten
Melodies opp. 38-39). In Meditazione her approach
is more halting and less volatile and less responsive to the
fleeting will-the-wisp aspects of the writing. On the final
disc the single movement Sonata-Reminscenza, famously
recorded by Emil Gilels during his Russian years, is played
by Geoffrey Tozer, in a recording licensed from Chandos. Ossipova
is more nuanced and touching on this occasion than Tozer.
Aristocratic though he is, Ossipova makes more of the piece
with its melting memories and seeming images of fond childhood
and romance.
There are good
liner notes provided by Bryce Morrison and Hamish Milne.
I am sure that Brilliant must have another Medtner-Milne
set on the drawing board if they have the entrée to the CRD
catalogue. This will surely include the seraphically
blessed Piano
Quintet (Pro Arte Quartet and Milne) from CRD 3515
with the complete music
for violin and piano – three sonatas opp. 21, 44, 57 and the
Three Nocturnes
op.16 with the
Two Canzonas With Dances op.43 from CRD34934 with Manoug Parikian. I certainly hope so.
While a survey
of discs and labels might sometimes lead to a preference for
Milne on Hyperion (Skazki) or Hamelin or Tozer in the sonatas
(Hyperion, Chandos) this wide-ranging set is an indispensable
treasure trove of Medtner. At this magnetically attractive
price - go for it. There is a lifetime's study, reflection
and poetry in these recordings. Milne has made Medtner part
of the core of his life's work and this is evident in what
we hear. I regret that Milne has not recorded the piano concertos
– one day? Meantime do track this down and keep fingers crossed
for that second box including the complete Medtner chamber
music. Is it still too much to hope that a sensitive pianist
and a team of young and intelligent singers might record the
complete songs?
Rob Barnett
DETAILED
TRACK-LISTING
CD
1 [54:56] (counterpart to CRD3338)
1.
Primavera (Spring Tale), Forgotten Melodies Second Cycle Op. 39
No. 3 (1918-20) [3:49]
2.
Meditation, Forgotten Melodies Second Cycle Op. 39 No. 1 (1918-20)
[6:12]
3.
Fairy Tale in E flat major Op. 26 No. 2 (1912) [1:30]
4.
Fairy Tale in F minor (Ophelia's Song) Op. 14 No. 1 (1906-07)
[3:32]
5.
Fairy Tale in E minor (March of the Paladin) Op. 14 No. 2 (1918-20)
[3:58]
6.
Fairy Tale in G major Op. 9 No. 3 (1904-06) [1:55]
7.
Fairy Tale in D minor (1915) [1:56]
8.
Fairy Tale in C sharp minor Op. 35 No. 4 (1916-17) [3:50]
9.
Three Hymns in Praise of Toil Op. 49 (1916-17) (No. 1: Before
Work; No. 2: At the Anvil; No. 3: After Work) [10:32]
10.
Elegy Op. 59 No. 2 (1938) [8:56]
11.
Dithyramb Op. 10 No. 2 (1898-1906) [8:40]
Hamish
Milne (piano)
CD
2 [60:12] (counterpart to CRD3339)
Sonata
Triad Op. 11 (1904-08)
1.
No. 1 in A flat major [9:58]
2.
No. 2 in D minor, Elegy [6:12]
3.
No. 3 in C major [9:05]
4.
Sonata in E minor Op. 25 No. 2 "The Night Wind" (1911)
[34:34]
Hamish
Milne (piano)
CD
3 [68:22] (counterpart to CRD3460)
1.
Sonata in G minor Op. 22 (1909-10) [16:47]
Romantic
Sketches for the Young, Op. 54 (1932)
2.
Prelude, Pastorale [2:09]
3.
Skazka, Bird's Tale [2:33]
4.
Prelude, Hymn [3:36]
5.
Skazka, The Beggar [3:32]
Two
Skazki, Op. 8 (1905)
6.
No. 1 in C minor [3:06]
7.
No. 2 in C minor [6:19]
Three
Novelles, Op. 17 (1908)
8.
No. 1 in G major, Daphnis and Chloe [3:29]
9.
No. 2 in C minor [4:24]
10.
No. 3 in E major [6:24]
11.
Sonata in A minor Op. 30 (1914-15) [14:38]
Hamish
Milne (piano)
CD
4 [64:05] (counterpart to CRD3461)
Sonata
in F minor Op. 5 (1896-1903)
1.
Allegro [12:36]
2.
Intermezzo: allegro [3:46]
3.
Largo [8:36]
4.
Allegro risoluto [8:57]
Second
Improvisation (in variation form) Op. 47 (1926)
5.
Theme: song of the Water-nymph [2:22]
6.
Var. 1:Meditation [1:41]
7.
Var. 2: Caprice [1:22]
8.
Var. 3:Winged dancers [2:17]
9.
Var. 4: Enchantment [1:47]
10.
Var. 5: Humoresque [1:54]
11.
Var. 6: On the waves [1:26]
12.
Var. 7: Roar of the crowd [1:46]
13.
Var. 8: In the forest [0:49]
14.
Var. 9: The wood-spirit [0:37]
15.
Var. 10: Elves [1:04]
16.
Var. 11: Gnomes [1:04]
17.
Var. 12: Invocation [2:18]
18.
Var. 13: Threat [2:57]
19.
Var. 14: Song of the water-nymph [1:54]
20.
Var. 15: Storm [2:25]
21.
Conclusion [1:47]
Hamish
Milne (piano)
CD
5 [69:18] (counterpart to CRD3498)
Sonata-Ballade
in F sharp major Op. 27 (1912-1914)
1.
Allegretto [10:46]
2.
Introduzione, Mesto [3:51]
3.
Finale, allegro [10:05]
Four
Skazki Op. 34 (1916-17)
4.
In B minor "The Magic Violin", tempo cangiando, abbandonamente
[5:47]
5.
In E minor, allegro cantabile e leggiero [2:11]
6.
In A minor, allegretto tenebroso [3:35]
7.
In D minor, molto sostenuto e semplice [5:50]
Sonata
Romantica in B flat minor Op. 53 No. 1 (1931-1932)
8.
Romanza, andantino con moto ma sempre espressivo [7:43]
9.
Scherzo, allegro [5:39]
10.
Meditazione, andante con moto [4:15]
11.
Finale, allegro non troppo [8:36]
Hamish
Milne (piano)
CD
6 [65:18] (counterpart to CRD3509)
Forgotten
Melodies, Second Cycle, Op. 39 (1918-20)
1.
Meditazione [5:43]
2.
Romanza [5:02]
3.
Primavera [3:45]
4.
Canzona matinata [4:22]
5.
Sonata tragica [10:08]
Two
Skazki Op. 48 (1926)
6.
Dance Tale [7:10]
7.
Elves' Tale [4:17]
8.
Etude in C minor [2:22]
9.
I loved thee, Op. 32 No. 4 (1914) [2:32]
10.
Sonata minacciosa, Op. 53 No. 2 (1931-32) [17:35]
Hamish
Milne (piano)
CD
7 [69:49] (partial counterpart to CRD3515)
Two
Pieces for Two Pianos Op. 58 (1940)
1.
Russian Round Dance [5:29]
2.
Knight Errant [12:21]
Sonatina
in G minor
3.
Allegretto ma non troppo [2:50]
4.
Scherzo [4:36]
5.
Moment Musical in C minor, Gnomenklage,Op. 4 No. 3 (1897-1902)
[2:42]
6.
Prelude in E flat major Op. 4 No. 4 (1897-1902) [2:33]
Sonata-Skazka
in C minor Op. 25 No. 1 (1910-11)
7.
Allegro abbandonamente [5:13]
8.
Andantino con moto [3:24]
9.
Allegro con spirito [3:58]
10.
Sonata Reminiscenza Op. 38 No. 1 [12:55]
Sonata-Idylle
in G major Op. 56
11.
Pastorale, allegretto cantabile [4:26]
12.
Allegro moderato e cantabile [7:54]
Hamish
Milne (piano) (1-9)
Boris
Berezovsky (piano) II (1,2)
Geoffrey
Tozer (piano) (10-12)
