Martinu Concertos

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Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu

Label: Classics

Magazine Review Date: 6/1991

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 61

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: 759575-2

Tracks:

Composition	Artist Credit
Double Concerto for 2 String Orchestras, Piano and Timpani	Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu, Composer Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu, Composer Charles Fullbrook, Timpani City of London Sinfonia John Alley, Piano Richard Hickox, Conductor
Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra	Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu, Composer Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu, Composer City of London Sinfonia Endellion Qt Richard Hickox, Conductor
Sinfonia Concertante	Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu, Composer Andrew Watkinson, Violin Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu, Composer City of London Sinfonia Nicholas Daniel, Oboe Richard Hickox, Conductor Stephen Orton, Cello Stephen Reay, Bassoon

Composer or Director: Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu

Label: Classics

Magazine Review Date: 6/1991

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 61

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: 791099-2

Tracks:

Composition	Artist Credit
Double Concerto for 2 String Orchestras, Piano and Timpani	Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu, Composer Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu, Composer Charles Fullbrook, Timpani City of London Sinfonia John Alley, Piano Richard Hickox, Conductor
Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra	Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu, Composer Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu, Composer City of London Sinfonia Endellion Qt Richard Hickox, Conductor
Sinfonia Concertante	Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu, Composer Andrew Watkinson, Violin Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu, Composer City of London Sinfonia Nicholas Daniel, Oboe Richard Hickox, Conductor Stephen Orton, Cello Stephen Reay, Bassoon

Composer or Director: Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu

Label: Classics

Magazine Review Date: 6/1991

Media Format: Cassette

Media Runtime: 0

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: 791099-4

Tracks:

Composition	Artist Credit
Double Concerto for 2 String Orchestras, Piano and Timpani	Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu, Composer Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu, Composer Charles Fullbrook, Timpani City of London Sinfonia John Alley, Piano Richard Hickox, Conductor
Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra	Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu, Composer Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu, Composer City of London Sinfonia Endellion Qt Richard Hickox, Conductor
Sinfonia Concertante	Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu, Composer Andrew Watkinson, Violin Bohuslav (Jan) Martinu, Composer City of London Sinfonia Nicholas Daniel, Oboe Richard Hickox, Conductor Stephen Orton, Cello Stephen Reay, Bassoon

Author: Stephen Johnson

If you wanted to show how broad Martinu's artistic scope was, you couldn't pick a better coupling than the Double Concerto and the Sinfonia concertante: the former urgent and full of pained intensity; the latter a pure jeu d'esprit in Martinu's best 'Haydn' vein (the unusual solo forces are exactly those used by Haydn in his own fine Sinfonia concertante, HobI/105). Together they make an excellent introduction to this dauntingly prolific composer. The Concerto for string quartet and orchestra, however, is the kind of Martinu that really tries my patience: there's a great deal of self-defeating scrubbing which even the valiant efforts of the Endellion Quartet fail to invest with either charm or expressive significance. One does find something of the tortuous expression of the Double Concerto in the central Adagio, yet for all the obvious feeling behind the writing there's something oddly amorphous about the result.
Nevertheless performances of both the Double Concerto and the Sinfonia concertante are deftly characterized—the desolate, wandering piano solos in the Largo of the Double Concerto are set at just the right level of chill—and the recordings are clear, if a little antiseptic. The old Karel Sejna version of the Double Concerto may have carried a higher electric charge, but while I haven't been able to hear the new Cavendish cassette transfer ( (Cassette) RTS8709), they would have had a difficult task toning down the fierceness of the sound on the old Supraphon version—at least as represented on my copy of the LP. Now that Virgin have corrected the editing mistake in their initial batch (see June 1990, page 7), this disc can be recommended: despite my misgivings about the Concerto for string quartet, there's plenty in the other two works to keep one listening, especially in these more than competent performances.'