Martinu'sconcertos and Bartok's solo sonata in congenial performances
On the present disc, Frank Peter Zimmermann, one of today's most highly regarded violinists, 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 Martinu'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 Hrusa, one of the leading Martinu conductors of today.
The disc closes with a central work in the twentieth-century literature for solo violin, Bela Bartok's Sonata for Solo Violin. Composed in 1944, only a year before Bartok's death, it is a deeply personal statement which fuses the overall layout of Bach's solo violin sonatas with Hungarian folk tradition with results that are as fascinating to the listener as they are challenging to the performer.
Bohuslav Martinu (1890—1959)
Violin Concerto No. 2, H. 293 26'42
1 ) I. Andante — Poco allegro 11'37
2 ) II. Andante moderato 7'05
3 ) III. Poco allegro 7'49
Violin Concerto No. 1, H. 226 22'42
4 ) I. Allegro moderato 9'36
5 ) II. Andante 5'21
6 ) III. Allegretto 7'39
Bela Bartok (1881—1945)
Sonata for Solo Violin, Sz. 117 24'12
7 ) I. Tempo di ciaccona 8'58
8 ) II. Fuga. Risoluto, non troppo vivo 4'13
9 ) III. Melodia. Adagio 6'20
10 ) IV. Presto 4'31
