Slavonic Reflections, recorded by Nelly Akopian-Tamarina in recital at Wigmore Hall, is a highly personal collection of piano music containing Mazurka’s by Chopin, Janáček’s cycle In the Mist, as well as encores by Medtner and Liadov. The programme breathes a melancholic air of sadness, while simultaneously showing an equally Slavonic inclination to dance, as well as a fascination for nature. Nelly Akopian-Tamarina belongs to a distinguished tradition of playing stretching back to the great Russian school of Scriabin, Rachmaninov and Medtner. Slavonic Reflections is her second PENTATONE release, after a 2017 Brahms album that The Guardian praised as “enchanting, intimate and irresistible”, while BBC Music Magazine described it as “revelatory Brahms from another age”.

This album was recorded in recital at Wigmore Hall, London, United Kingdom, 23 March 2009; 30 January 2008 (Medtner, Liadov encores)*