Swetlana Meermann-Muret, Miniatures Russes Review

Swetlana Meermann-Muret is a Russian-born pianist that comes from a family of musicians. Meermann-Muret studied at the Special School of Art for gifted children and won First Prize at the first Konstantin Igumnov Piano Competition. She was awarded a scholarship from her city and from the Russian government. Meermann-Muret has won numerous awards and prizes at national and international competitions as a soloist, chamber musician, and accompanist. At the age of sixteen, she gave her concert debut performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and has appeared as a soloist, among others, with the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie and the Philharmonie Baden-Baden. She has followed the Russian piano tradition tracks throughout her education, also in Germany and in France. At the Regional Music Highschool in Montabaur, Germany, she studied in the piano class of Natalia Adomeit.

Meermann-Muret holds a master’s and pedagogical degree from the Music Conservatory in Frankfurt, where she studied under Irina Edelstein and subsequently earned an Artist Diploma as a Concert Pianist at the Music Conservatory in Karlsruhe with highest honors under Michael Uhde and Markus Stange. Meermann-Muret enjoys performing rarely played works and composers in her programs, which was the theme of her debut album with the work of Rodion. She is now bringing her versatile and charismatic playing to gems of the piano literature—the rarely recorded miniatures by Anatoly Lyadov and Anton Arensky with her new album titled Miniatures Russes.

Bottom Line: Miniatures Russes is pianist Meermann-Muret escorting you on a journey through the heights and depths of the Russian soul in twenty-four tracks of the works by Anatoly Lyadov and Anton Arensky. Lyadov’s Préludes are precursors to the well-known works by Rachmaninoff and Scriabin. Lyadov’s pieces visit dreamy and subtle moments to humorous and high-spirited dances. Meermann-Muret’s playing on the virtuosic Etude, Op. 5, is especially impressive with her attention to detail and a warm touch on the piano. Arensky’s oeuvre is very diverse, and with the included selection on Miniatures Russes, the listener can hear and appreciate his sonic control and influence of the great Peter Tchaikovsky. Know as the “last lyricist” in Russian piano, he shined in his composing for piano in a small work form. Nocuten, Op. 36 is a collection of piano pieces that span multiple textures, polymelodic writing, and depictions of emotion. Meermann-Muret’s control of each setting is beautiful. Especially in “Elegie” emotional journey of dynamics, beautiful lyrical melodies, and moments of intense harmonic movement. The album ends with the technically demanding “No. 6, Etude” from Arensky’s 6 Pieced, Op. 53. The performance has energy and direction while still mainlining clarity in the voices. Overall, Meermann-Muret’s Miniatures Russes is a collection of profound and refined interpretations of deeply moving music performed with excellence and careful attention to detail. That’s the short of it!

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