Lorenz's Piano Blog: May 2026

My Music Recommendations

Barber Violin Concerto
Samuel Barber was an excellent composer. This is the second movement of his violin concerto.

Scriabin Piano Concerto
It's Scriabin and it's a piano concerto.

Medtner Night Wind Sonata
Played by Australia's very own Geoffrey Tozer.

Medtner Violin Sonata 3
I'm a big fan of the Medtner violin sonatas.

Medtner Piano Concerto 1
If you love Rachmaninoff and are looking for other composers like him, Medtner is about as close as you can get.

Medtner Piano Concerto 2
The theme from the first movement of Medtner's second piano concerto shows that Medtner was a match for Rachmaninoff's melodic talent.

The Nutcracker (Pletnev Transcription)
The Pletnev piano transcription of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker suite.

Scriabin Preludes/Etudes
Played by Yuja Wang. Particularly worth listening to is the Etude Op.8 No.9.

Scriabin Sonata 3
Sonatas 2&3 are the pre-modern Chopin-esque sonatas and most accessible to a broad audience.

Beethoven Cavatina
The Cavatina from Beethoven's 13th string quartet (don't hesitate to listen to all 7 movements from the string quartet).

Beethoven Grosse Fugue
The Grosse Fugue from Beethoven's 13th string quartet (you might guess that I prefer Beethoven's late works to his early ones).

Scriabin Black Mass Sonata
The second to last piano sonata of Scriabin. An example of the modern end of his compositional output.

Lorenz's Piano Blog

Tuesday, 12 May 2026

Medtner Piano Concertos and Sonata 1