{"id":2475150,"date":"2026-06-25T13:47:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T13:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2475150"},"modified":"2026-06-25T13:47:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T13:47:18","slug":"wpr-music-new-album-of-the-week-fusions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wpr-music-new-album-of-the-week-fusions\/","title":{"rendered":"WPR Music new album of the week: ‘Fusions’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Editor\u2019s note: Email responses from Nikolay Medvedev have been edited for length and clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n

This week\u2019s new release features some wildly exciting and ear-catching music: Sophisticated and fun jazz in many permutations, challenging classical structures that require almost athletic virtuosity and some gorgeous, deeply emotional lyrical passages.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a statement of personal freedom.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFusions,\u201d from Russian-born pianist Nikolay Medvedev includes several pieces by Russian composer Nikolai Kapustin from the 1980s (the Piano Sonata No. 2, op. 54; excerpts from the 8 Concert Etudes, op. 40; and Variations for Piano, op. 41).<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also music by George Gershwin (3 Preludes) and the \u201c7 Virtuoso Etudes after George Gershwin\u201d by the great 20th century pianist and composer Earl Wild.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, Gershwin is one of the brightest representatives of jazz music in the United States,\u201d said Medvedev in an email interview, \u201cjust as Kapustin was in the Soviet Union and later in Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFusions\u201d Youtube Playlist<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSince childhood, I have been fascinated by the language of jazz \u2014 its\u00a0harmony, rhythm and style,\u201d said Medvedev. \u201cLike many of my colleagues, I was raised in an academic environment and played exclusively classical music, but I always wanted to try something new.\u201d<\/p>\n

Medvedev is a serious pianist and the prizewinner in several international classical competitions. Trying \u201csomething new\u201d resulted in an album full of powerful, virtuosic, evocative music that reflects Medvedev\u2019s own newfound freedom after leaving Russia and the regime he opposes for a fresh life and career based in Berlin, Germany.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always believed in democratic values and in what I consider the most important thing in a person\u2019s life: inner freedom \u2014 a freedom that is being suppressed in Russia today by every possible means,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a member of the\u00a0LGBTQ community, I could no longer tolerate the discrimination directed at gay people.<\/p>\n

\u201cA few years after emigrating to Germany, I began to feel increasingly like a truly free person. I fell in love with Earl Wild\u2019s arrangements. I had admired Wild for a long time, but I did not really know Gershwin\u2019s songs,\u201d said Medvedev.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese arrangements perfectly reflected my own sense of freedom, energy, joy of life, warmth, tenderness and love. I decided to combine Wild\u2019s Gershwin arrangements with Gershwin\u2019s Preludes and the music of Kapustin. I simply love this music.\u201d<\/p>\n

George Gershwin by Carl Van Vechten. Source: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s one thing to love it, but the music itself requires incredible strength, emotional depth and technical prowess.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the most difficult preparation I have ever undertaken,\u201d acknowledged Medvedev. \u201cAlmost every piece on this album demands extraordinary technical command and a constant state of intense concentration, especially Kapustin\u2019s music, despite its apparent ease.\u201d<\/p>\n

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