Konstantin Romanovich Eiges (1875-1950) Piano music

[Alan Howe]

...forthcoming from Toccata:
http://www.mdt.co.uk/eiges-konstantin-romanovich-piano-music-jonathan-powell-toccata-classics.html

Tracks as follows:

    [1-2] 2 Skazki, Op. 12;
    [3] Sonata-Poem No. 1, Op. 15;
    [4-13] 10 Preludes, Op. 8;
    [14-15] 2 Poems, Op. 19;
    [16] The Cuckoo, Op. 2;
    [17] Sonata-Poem No. 2, Op. 28;
    [18-21] 4 Pieces, Op. 14;
    [22] Theme and Variations, Op. 36

The CD features an expert on Russian piano music of this period, Jonathan Powell. Here's the blurb:

Konstantin Romanovich Eiges (1875–1950) was a member of the 'Silver Age' of Russian music, a contemporary and friend of Rachmaninov, Medtner and other major composer-pianists.

He was a member of a gifted Jewish family from eastern Ukraine, studied both in medicine and music in Moscow: many of his siblings were distinguished in their own right, and his son, Oleg, wrote twenty symphonies.

Eiges' music bears the impress of Taneyev, his teacher, and of Skryabin and has points in common with his friends Medtner and Rachmaninov, but deserves to be remembered in its own right.

[thalbergmad]

Just given this a listen and hyper impressed. One can detect perhaps the influence of Rachmaninov/Scriabin and Medtner, but there is more than enough individuality for the music to stand on its own feet.

A morbid vein runs through much of it with occasional glimpses of sunshine. Perhaps the Theme & Variations is a minor masterpiece.

Thal

[Mark Thomas]

I agree, Thal, these generally sombre or contemplative pieces have real individuality and make for an unexpectedly impressive and rewarding listen.

[Hexameron]

Sorry to be a contrarian in my very first post, but I have to disagree with this: "morbid vein runs through much of it with occasional glimpses of sunshine."

I heard more sunshine and warm lyricism than morbidity. Both Sonatas are generally bright and even the Scriabinesque pieces avoid the kind of languid ennui so often heard in other Russian composers of the Silver Age. Some pieces had a melancholy tinge, but nothing overtly somber and dark. I would assign "morbid" to the piano music of Feinberg, Roslavets, Sabaneyev, Protopopov, Lyatoshynsky, and early Myaskovsky—all contemporaries of Eiges—who truly plumb the depths of psychological turmoil and wallow in decadent pessimism. Eiges is genial by comparison.

"Perhaps the Theme & Variations is a minor masterpiece."

It's a decent work, but have you heard Taneyev's Theme and Variations? Or Lyapunov's Variations and Fugue on a Russian Theme? I would argue that those are minor masterpieces.

What did you think of Eiges's "The Cuckoo"? I thought that was the real winner on this recording; there's something about that haunting theme imitating birdcalls in the "eerie stillness of a Russian forest" that demanded repeated listenings for me.

[Jonathan]

Slightly off topic, for which I apologise!
Oh dear - it looks like Toccata are trying to bankrupt me!  This looks and sounds just like the sort of disc I would like, I shall have to add it to the ever increasing list of CDs I will buy from Toccata.
I've just received today the Bargiel Orchestral works and last week the Alkan Mozart transcriptions disc.  The Alkan is superb.