October 21, 2012 marks Sir Georg Solti's centenary and Decca is celebrating this with several important reissues. Sir Georg was an exclusive Decca artist for 50 years.
On this specially-priced 8-CD set Zoltan Kocsis performs the complete solo piano music of his fellow Hungarian, B la Bart k. Completed in 2001, these critically acclaimed, definitive performances are the benchmark against which all others are considered.
Compiled from recordings dating from 1965 to 1974, this EMI/Gemini double-disc of Bartók's string concertos and other works features Yehudi Menuhin at the peak of his powers, with support from two important Bartók specialists and their sympathetic orchestras. Menuhin is admirably backed in all the concertos by Antal Dorati and the New Philharmonia Orchestra, and Pierre Boulez and the BBC Symphony Orchestra provide meticulous accompaniment in the two Rhapsodies. The resilient Viola Concerto and the splendid Violin Concerto No. 2 are essential listening, both for their masterful writing and for the vigorous performances Menuhin and Dorati deliver.
The project grew out of the musical acquaintance of the Hungarian double bass player Mátyás Szandai and the French violinist Mathias Lévy. After playing together in the Mathias Lévy Quartet, they decided to set up a project dedicated to Béla Bartók and invite to this the renowned Hungarian cimbalom player Miklós Lukács, a long-time companion of Mátyás Szandai. With the support of the Budapest Music Center, they made their first creative residency in January 2016. The debut concert of the trio took place on 27 May at the Hungarian Institute in Paris, followed by the recording sessions of the album at BMC and a full house concert at the Opus in January last year and further concerts in France during 2017.
Through his far-reaching endeavors as composer, performer, educator, and ethnomusicolgist, Béla Bartók emerged as one of the most forceful and influential musical personalities of the twentieth century. Born in Nagyszentmiklós, Hungary (now Romania), on March 25, 1881, Bartók began his musical training with piano studies at the age of five, foreshadowing his lifelong affinity for the instrument. Following his graduation from the Royal Academy of Music in 1901 and the composition of his first mature works – most notably, the symphonic poem Kossuth (1903) – Bartók embarked on one of the classic field studies in the history of ethnomusicology. With fellow countryman and composer Zoltán Kodály, he traveled throughout Hungary ……..From Allmusic
Violinist Franziska Pietsch and pianist Maki Hayashida offer deeply personal readings of Bela Bartok's magnificent Sonatas for violin and piano, and his irresistible 'Romanian Folk Dances'.
Through his far-reaching endeavors as composer, performer, educator, and ethnomusicolgist, Béla Bartók emerged as one of the most forceful and influential musical personalities of the twentieth century. Born in Nagyszentmiklós, Hungary (now Romania), on March 25, 1881, Bartók began his musical training with piano studies at the age of five, foreshadowing his lifelong affinity for the instrument. Following his graduation from the Royal Academy of Music in 1901 and the composition of his first mature works – most notably, the symphonic poem Kossuth (1903) – Bartók embarked on one of the classic field studies in the history of ethnomusicology. With fellow countryman and composer Zoltán Kodály, he traveled throughout Hungary ……..From Allmusic