BARTÛK: CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA

"...[T]hese players’ Bartók is among the most musical and lucid I have heard. With a fine recording, the disc is recommended to anyone attracted by this pairing of works." -- Misha Donat, BBC Music Magazine

Rafael Kubelik recorded Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra twice commercially, and two live recordings (including this one) also grace the current catalog. His finest version, indeed one of the select reference editions of the work, remains his Boston Symphony performance for DG, but his live effort differs from that one sufficiently to warrant further investigation. Kubelik's studio recordings often differ substantially from his concert versions. Here, he plays the three inner movements as one, at virtually a single tempo, sacrificing some of the darkness and intensity of the slow movement but compensating with a tremendously exciting attack on the finale. The Bavarian players follow him every step of the way, not quite as polished individually or as an ensemble as their Boston counterparts, but enormously committed all the same. The 1978 recording sounds just a touch too distantly miked for ideal textural clarity, but it's otherwise warm and full.

Kubelik's mono Mercury Living Presence recording of the Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta still stands among the best recordings of that work, but this newcomer improves on it. True, there are moments of unsteady ensemble (as at the start of the second movement), but these matter not a whit in a performance that conveys the music's passion, terror, and ultimate triumph in a manner that few others can claim. In particular, after a spellbindingly lugubrious opening fugue and an aptly ferocious second movement, Kubelik turns in what is arguably the finest performance of the hallucinatory third movement yet to appear on disc. His tempo is daringly swift (6:46--almost exactly Bartók's own extremely fast timing as noted in the score), and every detail--the click of the xylophone, the glissandos in timpani and violins, the soft tremolos of the lower strings--registers with extraordinary clarity and impact. The central climax will simply scare the living daylights out of you. After this night of horror, the genial and propulsive account of the finale offers exactly the necessary relief. Excellent recorded sound sets the seal on a positively cathartic event that alone justifies purchase of the disc.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

For it's first recording for BIS Records, the Marmen Quartet tackles three major works from the twentieth-century string quartet literature. The two quartets by Gyorgy Ligeti belong to two different periods in the composer's output. Written before Ligeti left Hungary and emigrated to the West, the First, subtitled 'Metamorphoses nocturnes', represents the peak of his 'Hungarian' period. Regarded as a virtuoso exercise, the work reveals the influences of Bela Bartok, particularly from his Third and Fourth Quartets. Ligeti's Second Quartet belongs to his second period, particularly rich in significant works. Considered by the composer as a response to the works of his illustrious predecessors such as Mozart, Beethoven, Bartok and Berg, the Second Quartet, with it's calculated anarchy, dynamic extremes and sublime climaxes, is not only one of Ligeti's masterpieces but also a true classic of modernism. Bela Bartok's Fourth Quartet, which had a particularly strong influence on Ligeti, is widely seen as one of his most radical; it requires high levels of technical accomplishment from the performers, yet reveals a deep understanding of the instruments, and draws an unprecedented range of colour and character from them.

It was more than just breathing together in the music that made this relationship so extraordinary: Seiji Ozawa earned the respect and affection of the orchestra from the very first time he met the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1966. The young Japanese conductor knew exactly what he wanted on the podium and knew the scores down to the smallest detail. Nevertheless, the always polite and approachable conductor never imposed his views on the orchestra. The result was a partnership on an equal footing, which was not only rewarding on a personal level, but above all enabled music-making in which there was always room for freedom and spontaneity. Our edition is a tribute to this special friendship with Seiji Ozawa, who the Berliner Philharmoniker made an honorary member in 2016.

Idil Biret wanted to record the many waltz transcriptions of Godowsky and others. Chief among these was the transcription of the Johann Strauss' waltz Kiinstlerleben by Godowsky which she had performed at many concerts in the l 970s and the Blue Danube Waltz. However, there was another project scheduled before that; four Haydn Sonatas, some of the most beautiful among the many he composed. When Idil suddenly fell ill in 2021 both projects were abandoned. Then, miraculously a stupendous recording of her performance of Kiinstlerleben in New York in December 1975 surfaced on the internet which led to reembarking on the project in a somewhat different way. The result is this CD, a compilation of Biret's past performances of Waltzes and Dances from many composers including Bartok, Berlioz, Chopin, Debussy, Liszt, Ravel, Stravinsky and, of course, Leopold Godowsky - his piano transcription of the Strauss waltz Kiinstlerleben "Metamorphosis on Themes from Artist's Life"

Works For Cello And Piano

DANCES Music by Ye, Bartok, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, de Falla Arranged by Shen Ye and Dai Weiyi Zhi-Jong Wang, violin Ensemble Epoch Experience the captivating artistry of Zhi-Jong Wang and her innovative chamber orchestra, Ensemble Epoch, with their latest album release, "Dances". Founded in 2021 by graduates of the prestigious Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Ensemble Epoch is redefining the boundaries of classical music performance. "Dances" brings together an eclectic mix of compositions and arrangements, showcasing the ensemble's remarkable versatility and unity. From the ethereal beauty of Shen Ye's "Prelude" to the vibrant rhythms of Bartok's "Romanian Folk Dances," this album is a testament to the ensemble's dynamic range. The imaginative arrangements by contemporary composers Shen Ye and Dai Weiyi breathe new life into beloved classics such as Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" and Brahms' "Hungarian Dances". The album culminates in a breathtaking rendition of Manuel de Falla's "Ritual Fire Dance," demonstrating the ensemble's exceptional skill and passion. Zhi-Jong Wang's visionary leadership and violin artistry paired with the ensemble's cohesive performance style create a unique listening experience that transcends traditional classical music forms. Each track on "Dances" is a journey into a world of musical exploration, where the intimate connection between musicians and audience comes alive.

Béla Bartók is one of the unquestionably “great” composers and one of the few modern composers who established themselves in the repertoire. His three piano concertos are central to his biography and musical output, but only the Third, with some generosity, could be considered “popular.” Although well represented on disc, the first two are rare concert program guests. Tzimon Barto sees a problem in an all-too-mechanical approach to these two percussive works: “Even Bartók needs a supple touch. If you bang away at it, without rhythmical buoyancy, of course it will become tedious.” These recordings are his attempt at doing justice to his Bartók-ideal.

REVIEW:

Christoph Eschenbach and Tzimon Barto have a long history of collaboration. Bartók, too, has long been a frequent composer on Eschenbach’s programs.

In these recordings, the two musicians offer very special, unconventional interpretations. They are not interested in motoric coolness, in hard-edged virtuosity, but in a very interesting way they search for moods and a narrative that cannot be found in the many other good interpretations of the Bartók concertos. Not with Zimermann/Boulez, not with Bavouzet/Noseda, not with Kocsis/Fischer, and, going back even further, not with Anda/Fricsay.

Eschenbach and Barto take their time with the music and, with remarkable transparency and many warm colors, create sometimes very mysterious and exciting passages, such as in the slow movement of the first concerto, or a wonderfully atmospheric Allegretto, which, at nine and a half minutes, lasts up to two minutes longer than with other interpreters. Even more astonishing is the greatly extended Adagio religioso, which at nearly 14 minutes is up to four and a half minutes longer than other recordings used for comparison.

All in all, however, this new recording is definitely interesting and worth listening to, because it brings out new aspects and gives Bartók a variety of expression that cannot be found anywhere else.

— Pizzicato

Classical Music

Bartok’s For Children series, although a pedagogical work, contains little pieces which were partly also designed for concert performance. The later Mikrokosmos is in this respect different since it was conceived as a special piano method and also because the first two volumes of the altogether six volumes contain simple exercises and studies never intended for the concert hall. The composer himself pointed out this difference in a lecture recital held at American Universities and Colleges in the early 1940s. It was during this period of his voluntary exile in the United States that he discussed with his publisher, Boosey and Hawkes, the possibility of a new edition of this series composed three decades earlier and unavailable on the market in the US because of the war. The version which Bartok prepared for publication in 1943 was in fact a partly revised, almost a lightly “translated,” one directed towards an international, first of all English and American public, unfamiliar with the history and folklore of Eastern Europe. It was finally published in this revised form in 1946, shortly after the composer’s death.

Il était une fois... Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà (DVD)

First time collaboration between the Zemlinsky Quartet and Paolo Giacometti. A must for anyone interested in the great tradition of Mitteleuropa chamber music. A unique coupling of two beautiful works rarely recorded and underrated by discography. The two Quintets were composed within a ten year span (1904-1914), a period of fantastic musical flourishing. Zemlinsky Quartet belongs to the glorious�tradition of Centre-European string quartets, characterized by nobility and spontaneity�of expression, flawless technique, lack of mannersisms, profound�and humble insight of the score.

For almost his entire life, Bela Bartok's music was unnoticed by the general public, this extraordinary composer created a unique cosmos of Hungarian/Southeast European folk and art music. Like Schonberg and Stravinsky, he is one of the protagonists of 20th century music. A few years after his death, his music became a bestseller and this success is once again reaching unimagined heights in our time. Accordionist Teodoro Anzellotti presents an individual selection of Bartok's masterpieces.

Bartok, B.: Violin Concerto No. 2 / Contrasts / Violin Sonat