About this episode

Matthew Paris and Keelan Carew discuss the life and legacy of composer Nicolai Medtner.

Matthew Paris is joined by the pianist and broadcaster Keelan Carew, who nominates the Great Life of the early 20th century composer Nicolai Medtner. It’s often the case that in a world of strong contenders, there are 'Great Lives' hidden by the scale and success of their contemporaries. That’s certainly a case that can be made in the case of Nicolai Medtner. Born towards the end of the 19th century in Moscow he followed in the immediate footsteps of Sergei Rachmaninov who would state later in life that 'in my opinion, [Medtner] was the greatest composer of our time.' Many have begged to differ since, but Medtner's was undoubtedly an extraordinary life and he has a particular hold over pianists stretching back over the last hundred years. After the Russian revolution Rachmaninov himself would help and support Medtner as he tried to establish himself in the west. However, where Rachmaninov acceded to the requests made of him, Medtner was fiercely conservative in his tastes at a time when modernism held sway in Europe. To help tell his story Matthew and Keelan are joined by pianist and composer, Francis Pott, another Medtner enthusiast who has explored a life that took Nicolai from…

People in this episode

Host: Matthew Paris

Guest: Keelan Carew

Topics covered

• classical music
• Russian composers
• 20th century history
• piano
• cultural legacy

Keywords

• Nicolai Medtner
• Keelan Carew
• classical music
• Sergei Rachmaninov
• Maharajah of Mysore
• piano
• 20th century composers

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Maharajah of Mysore

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