Rembetiko

Filmed in Pink Martini’s hometown of Portland, Oregon, at the historic Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, this DVD presents a thrilling full-length concert film (seen nationwide on PBS television) in pristine stereo sound, featuring many of Pink Martini’s most-beloved songs alongside previously unrecorded rarities. The DVD also contains never-before-seen bonus films and features which present stories and photos from the band’s vibrant history.

This disc begins with the thirty-five minute 'Concerto for two Violins', which was never orchestrated, sadly, by Skalkottas, but is played in the version for two pianos and two violins. It is a scintillating three movement composition with a terrifically virtuosic ten minute rondo finale. I ended up breathless and full of admiration for the composer and especially the performers for whom this music cannot have been familiar. It doesn't take long to get into Skalkottas's language. Twelve tone yes but melodic and full of Greek dance rhythms as the first movement demonstrates. A unique blend…….To listen to Skalkottas is a unique experience perhaps a little hairshirt at times but like a glass of Retsina there is nothing else quite as memorable or as addictive.

Gary Higginson @ www.musicweb-international.com

BIS' investigation of Greek composer Nikos Skalkottas' oeuvre is getting into his latest and least-known concerted repertoire with its Skalkottas: Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra (1945). It features violinists Georgios Demertzis and Simos Papanas with Vassilis Christopoulos and the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra in the concerto; the same body supports pianists Maria Asteriadou and Nikolaos Samaltanos in Skalkottas' Concertino (1935) and xylophonist Dimitris Dessyllas in his tiny Characteristic Piece "Nocturnal Amusement" (1949)………..

Uncle Dave Lewis @ AllMusic

Legends and rising stars of Greek music perform lively and haunting songs that connect the ancient and modern worlds.