Composer Nikolai Medtner was born in Russia in 1879, so he was a close friend and contemporary of Sergei Rachmaninov.

Medtner's music was never as popular as Rachmaninov, despite his friend's advocacy and support, and his music (all of it involving the piano), retains a reputation for difficulty and unapproachability.

The four Skazki (fairy tales) in Op.26 were written around 1912, when Medtner was trying to make a name for himself amongst Moscow's musical leaders. His ‘Tragic’ Sonata depicts the struggles and tragedies of later life.

Rachmaninov’s last original work for solo piano is the Variations on a theme of Corelli Op.42, dedicated to violinist Fritz Kreisler, the theme is in fact not by Corelli, but an anonymous tune known as ‘La Folla’

The Piano Sonata No.6 in A Major, Op.82 by Sergei Prokofiev is the first of his three 'War Sonatas". They are the pinnacle of his music for piano - and, given his lifelong ties to the instrument, they could rightly be considered the high point of his entire output. The Sixth Sonata's almost unbearably bombastic opening movement recalls the young Prokofiev, eager to 'epater le public' (dazzle the audience) with his revolutionary percussive piano technique and insistent rhythmical writing.

In September 2009 Sofya Gulyak was awarded the 1st prize and the Princess Mary Gold Medal at the Sixteenth Leeds International Piano Competition – the first woman to achieve this distinction. Since then she has appeared all over the world to great acclaim.