Bartók Concertos
Boulez gathers together the concertos to round off his Bartók appraisal
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Béla Bartók
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Magazine Review Date: 13/2008
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 0
Catalogue Number: 4777440
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Concerto for 2 Pianos and Orchestra |
Béla Bartók, Composer
Béla Bartók, Composer London Symphony Orchestra Neil Percy, Percussion Nigel Thomas, Percussion Pierre Boulez, Conductor Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Piano Tamara Stefanovich, Piano |
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 |
Béla Bartók, Composer
Béla Bartók, Composer Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Gidon Kremer, Violin Pierre Boulez, Conductor |
Concerto for Viola and Orchestra |
Béla Bartók, Composer
Béla Bartók, Composer Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Pierre Boulez, Conductor Yuri Bashmet, Viola |
Author: Rob Cowan
Gidon Kremer sounds equally unfettered at the start of the Violin Concerto’s gorgeous first movement but come the dizzy antics of the Allegro giocoso he engages more with play than with reverie. In fact from around 2'20" he sounds positively bored – very unlike him (he’s a favourite player of mine).
Boulez has spoken about the “Concerto” orchestration of the Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion as adding “a different dimension” to the Sonata, especially in the first movement, and he substantiates his claim with a performance that is typically transparent and attentive in matters of balancing, the brass fanfares at around 9'16" in the first movement so vividly reminiscent of parallel passages in the Second Piano Concerto. Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich, although technically brilliant, keep a relatively low profile, which makes for added intimacy in the first movement’s busy, often humorous badinage but rather mutes the rhythmic impact of the finale’s opening. I much prefer the stark, demonically driven spirit of the original – the Concerto pulls punches that the Sonata delivers in full – but Boulez’s performance states a strong case for the plusher concerto alternative.
Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music.
Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £8.75 / month
SubscribeGramophone Full Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £11.00 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.