Bartok

Frank Peter Zimmermann, Jakub Hrůša, Bamberger Symphoniker - Martinů: Violin Concertos; Bartók: Solo Sonata (2020)

Frank Peter Zimmermann, Jakub Hrůša, Bamberger Symphoniker - Martinů: Violin Concertos; Bartók: Solo Sonata (2020)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 319 Mb | Total time: 74:40 | Scans included
Classical | Label: BIS Records | # BIS-SACD-2457 | Recorded: 2018-2020

Frank Peter Zimmermann, one of today’s most highly regarded violinists, here performs works by two Central European composers that also exemplify various currents in classical music during the period 1920-1950. Although it only received its first performance in 1973, Bohuslav Martinů’s Violin Concerto No. 1 had been composed 40 years earlier in the neo-classical idiom championed by Stravinsky. In contrast, the composer’s Second Violin Concerto (1943) is written in a more lyrical vein, partly to suit the playing style of Mischa Elman, the violinist who commissioned it. In both works Zimmermann is partnered by Bamberger Symphoniker under the orchestra’s chief conductor Jakub Hrůša, one of the leading Martinů conductors of today.

Martha Argerich - Prokofiev, Bartok: Piano Concertos (1998)  Music

Posted by tirexiss at Jan. 7, 2020
Martha Argerich - Prokofiev, Bartok: Piano Concertos (1998)

Martha Argerich - Prokofiev, Bartok: Piano Concertos (1998)
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 01:10:12 | 304 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: EMI Classics | Catalog: 7243556654

Martha Argerich’s return to the studios in two concertos she has not previously recorded is an uplifting moment. As always with this most mercurial of virtuosos, her playing is generated very much by the mood of the moment, and those who heard her in Prokofiev’s First Concerto with Muti at London’s Royal Festival Hall some years ago – a firestorm of a performance – may well be surprised at her relative geniality with Dutoit. Her entire reading is less hard-driven than from, say, Richter or Gavrilov, her opening arguably more authentically brioso than ferocious, her overall view a refreshingly fanciful view of Prokofiev’s youthful iconoclasm.
Yevgeny Mravinsky, Leningrad PO - 20th Century's Philosophies: Bela Bartok, Arthur Honegger, Igor Stravinsky (2015)

Béla Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta, Sz. 106;
Arthur Honegger: Symphony No. 3, H186 'Liturgique'; Igor Stravinsky: Agon 'Ballet for Twelve Dancers'
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Yevgeny Mravinsky

EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 428 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 209 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical | Label: Praga Digitals | # 350 087 | Time: 01:18:28

This release in Praga's Reminiscences series features Yevgeny Mravinsky leading the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra in a programme that includes one of Béla Bartók's best-known compositions: 'Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste'. It is coupled with Honneger's Symphony No.3, composed in the aftermath of World War II, and music from Stravinsky's modernist ballet 'Agon'.
Jerusalem Quartet - Bela Bartok: String Quartets Nos. 2, 4 & 6 (2016)

Jerusalem Quartet - Béla Bartók: String Quartets Nos. 2, 4 & 6 (2016)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 351 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 184 Mb | Artwork included
Genre: Classical | Label: Harmonia Mundi | # HMC902235 | Time: 01:18:50

The string quartets of Béla Bartók punctuate the evolution of his style and the turning points of his existence. From the Second Quartet (1915-17) reflecting the period of World War One and his troubled personal life, through the Fourth whose exploration of rhythm, tonality and timbre produces magnificent and unprecedented sonorities in its ‘night music’, to the unbearable anguish of the Sixth (1939), as his dream of fraternity was shattered against the rise of nationalism and fascism, the Jerusa lem Quartet’s programme brings us the essence of Bartók's genius. Expect reviews in Classical music press for these hm artists with an extensive, acclaimed back catalogue for the label.
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Francois-Frederic Guy - Transcriptions for Two Pianists: Bartok, Debussy, Stravinsky (2015)

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, François-Frédéric Guy - Transcriptions for Two Pianists (2015)
Béla Bartók, Claude Debussy, Igor Stravinsky

EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 191 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 151 Mb | Artwork included
Genre: Classical | Label: Chandos | # CHAN 10863 | Time: 01:04:10

Three 20th-century orchestral scores, Bartók’s Two Pictures, Debussy’s Jeux and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, all dating from 1910-13 and all linked (as the detailed CD booklet explains), are brought to life in the hands of two exceptional French pianists. The central interest is the ballet Jeux. One of the world’s outstanding Debussy interpreters, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet has added to his complete Chandos recordings with his own transcription for two pianos. Written late in Debussy’s life for Nijinsky, Jeux involves an emotionally erotic and harmonically daring game of tennis. Bavouzet and his well-matched partner, François-Fréderic Guy, play with nimble grace, capturing the works wit and mystery. This gripping album is dedicated to Pierre Boulez, guru and enabler, for his 90th birthday.
János Kovács, Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra - Béla Bartók: Viola Concerto, Two Pictures, BB 59 (1998)

János Kovács, Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra - Béla Bartók: Viola Concerto, Two Pictures, BB 59 (1998)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 297 Mb | Total time: 73:02 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Naxos | # 8.554183 | Recorded: 1997

Bartók’s Viola Concerto was the uncompleted work which, soon after this death, Tibor Serly put together from sketches. Now Bartók’s son Péter, with the scholar Paul Neubauer, has re-edited those sketches. Though the differences are small, this first recording of the revised version, superbly played, proves fascinating, sounding closer to the Concerto for Orchestra. With the rich-toned Chinese vila-player Xiao as soloist, that version is here presented alongside Serly’s. The warmly atmospheric Two Pictures and a viola work by Serly make a good coupling.
50 Years Grosses Festspielhaus Salzburg [25CDs] -  Berlioz, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Bartók, Boulez, Stravinsky (2010)

50 Years Grosses Festspielhaus Salzburg [25CDs] - Berlioz, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Bartók, Boulez, Stravinsky (2010)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 865 Gb | Total time: 03:29:08 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Deutsche Grammophon | # 477 9111 | Recorded: 1991

The Grosses Festpielhaus in Salzburg has been the scene of countless memorable musical events - operas, concerts and recitals - for 50 years. Here is a unique chance to celebrate the glories of this distinguished era. In an exceptional collaboration with the Salzburg Festival, we have prepared a 25-CD box set - 5 complete operas, 10 concerts and 2 recitals - featuring many of the world's greatest artists, in recordings with classical status and others that are appearing on CD for the first time. Concerts (five out of ten are first-time releases): with Abbado, Bernstein, B hm, Boulez, Karajan, Levine, Mehta, Muti, Solti. Soloists include Anne-Sophie Mutter and Jessye Norman.
Ivry Gitlis - The Art of Ivry Gitlis: Tchaikovsky, Bruch, Sibelius, Mendelssohn, Bartok (1992) 2CDs

Ivry Gitlis - The Art of Ivry Gitlis (1992) 2CDs
Tchaikovsky - Bruch - Sibelius - Mendelssohn - Bartók

EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue&Log) ~ 529 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 374 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical | Label: VoxBox | # CDX2 5505 | Time: 02:39:09

There are several reasons to own this Vox Box 2CD set. For the first, it includes five great violin concertos in some of the very best performances in their discography. For the second, Ivry Gitlis (born 1922) is a great living violinist and these recordings made in early 1950s show his art in the best way, when Ivry's violin sounded powerful and brilliant.
Thomas Zehetmair, Budapest FO, Ivan Fischer - Bela Bartok: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 (1995)

Béla Bartók: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 (1995)
Thomas Zehetmair, violin; Budapest Festival Orchestra; Iván Fischer, conductor

EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue&Log) ~ 245 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 130 Mb | Scans ~ 64 Mb
Genre: Classical | Label: Berlin Classics/Edel | # 0115292 | Time: 00:56:58

Neither too nationalist nor too internationalist, this 1995 recording of Béla Bartók's two violin concertos featuring Thomas Zehetmair with Ivan Fischer leading the Budapest Festival Orchestra is just right. Austrian-born Zehetmair has a fabulous technique, a warm but focused tone, and lively sense of rhythm, all of which make him an ideal Bartók player. His interpretations are less about showing off then about digging in, and his performances are more about the music than they are about the musician. Hungarian conductor Fischer and his Hungarian orchestra are not only up for the music in a technical sense, they are also down with the music in an emotional sense, and their accompaniments ground Zehetmair's coolly flamboyant performances. Captured in white-hot sound that is almost too vivid for its own good, these performances deserve to stand among the finest ever recorded.
Andras Schiff, Ivan Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra - Bela Bartok: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-3 (1996)

Béla Bartók - Piano Concertos Nos. 1-3 (1996)
András Schiff, piano; Budapest Festival Orchestra, conducted by Iván Fischer

EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue&Log) ~ 328 Mb | Scans included | Time: 01:16:26
Genre: Classical | Label: Teldec Classics | # 0630-13158-2

First there was rhythm - pulsing, driving, primal rhythm. And a new word in musical terminology: Barbaro. As with sticks on skins, so with hammers on strings. The piano as one of the percussion family, the piano among the percussion family. The first and second concertos were written to be performed that way. But the rhythm had shape and direction, myriad accents, myriad subtleties. An informed primitivism. A Baroque primitivism. Then came the folkloric inflections chipped from the music of time: the crude and misshapen suddenly finding a singing voice. Like the simple melody - perhaps a childhood recollection - that emerges from the dogged rhythm of the First Concerto's second movement. András Schiff plays it like a defining moment - the piano reinvented as a singing instrument. His "parlando" (conversational) style is very much in Bartók's own image. But it's the balance here between the honed and unhoned, the brawn and beauty, the elegance and wit of this astonishing music that make these readings special.