Bartok Fischer

Renowned for bringing fresh excitement to traditional string quartet repertoire as well as for creating insightful interpretations of new music, the Chiara String Quartet (Rebecca Fischer and Hyeyung Julie Yoon, violins; Jonah Sirota, viola; Gregory Beaver, cello) captivates its audiences throughout the country. The Chiara has established itself as among America’s most respected ensembles, lauded for its 'highly virtuosic, edge-of-the-seat playing' (The Boston Globe). They are currently Hixson-Lied Artists-in-Residence at the Glenn Korff School of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and were the Blodgett Artists-in-Residence at Harvard University from 2008- 2014. For the 2015-2016 season, the Chiara will be the quartet-in-residence at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

György Sándor gave the world premiere of this concerto in 1946, just a few months after Bartök's death. His deep knowledge of the composer's works and special insights into the style make this account indispensable, even if it is not as brilliantly played as some. The pianist is quite free with rhythm and accent in his approach, conveying not the dreamlike, otherworldly atmosphere more than a few interpreters have found in the piece, but something very much of the moment and of this world.

Isabelle Faust's first recording for harmonia mundi, Bartok Sonatas, won her a Gramophone Young Artist of the Year. Here she returns to Bartok, perfoming the two concertos, accompanied by Daniel Harding and the Swedish Radio SO.

Hungarian pianist Annie Fischer made her debut at the age of 10 and studied with Ernst von Dohnányi at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. Her performance of the Liszt Sonata in B minor won Fischer first prize at the 1933 Liszt International Piano Competition, but her concert career was barely underway when war broke out; Fischer fled to Sweden. Afterwards Fischer returned to Hungary, and although she made her New York debut in 1961, she was only seldom seen in the United States and based her career in continental Europe.

Béla Bartók - The 2 Violin Concertos
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Arabella Steinbacher / Marek Janowski
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 270 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Pentatone # PTC 5186 350 | Country/Year: Europe 2010
Genre: Classical | Style: Early 20th Century

PentaTone’s magnificent multi-channel recording, engineered by the familiar Polyhymnia team of Job Maarse, Erdo Groot and Roger de Schot, avoids this trap and ensures that every section of the orchestral score is presented with outstanding clarity. The sound stage is wide with just the right amount of the ambience of the Victoria Hall, Geneva present to add an extra bloom to the overall sound. Arabella Steinbacher’s previous recordings of 20th century violin concertos have garnered worldwide praise and this latest one should further enhance the reputation of this young and exceptionally gifted musician. Very highly recommended.