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ALPHA1013
Originally recorded in January 2023
Classical
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About
Exiled in the United States since October 1940, Béla Bartók was short of money and worn out by leukaemia. Nevertheless, a few weeks’ respite from the disease in August 1943 enabled him to fulfil a commission from the conductor Serge Koussevitzky. For a fee of a thousand dollars, he quickly wrote the Concerto for Orchestra , which was to be premiered at Boston’s Symphony Hall on 1 December 1944. Koussevitzky was very enthusiastic about the Concerto, even describing it as ‘the best orchestra piece of the last 25 years’. It was the success of this score that prompted the violist William Primrose to ask the Hungarian composer to write a work for him. Bartók had little experience of the instrument and was only convinced when he heard the soloist perform the Walton Concerto on the radio. The score was initially planned in four movements, but the composer’s death reduced it to three. Amihai Grosz (a founder member of the Jerusalem Quartet, now principal viola of the Berliner Philharmoniker) joins the Orchestre National de Lille and Alexandre Bloch for this recording.
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Reviews
Recommended
Critics’ Choice 2023
“… technical immaculate and darkly poignant...”
Sound 10 Record 10 Repertoire 10 Interpretation 10
“…Whether to complete an already well-stocked library or for a first purchase, we highly recommend this CD which will not disappoint.”
Recommended
“…Bloch’s orchestra has no weak sections. The strings’ articulation in the fast moving passages is something to behold. Likewise, the solo woodwinds, brass, and percussion are first-class in every way. The sound that Alpha provides is truly vivid, allowing one to savour Bartók’s rich and colourful orchestra to the fullest…”
**** Excellent Album
“…The orchestral transparency and the outstanding quality of the orchestral playing must also be emphasized. The Orchestre National de Lille shows itself to be a top-class formation of undisputed international standard.Bela Bartok’s unfinished viola concerto is played by the Israeli violist Amihai Grosz with great interiorization, in the slow movement with almost unearthly calm… Grosz is congenially accompanied by the orchestra under Alexandre Bloch’s inspired conducting.” *****
Editor’s Choice – Orchestral Section
“…Recommended.”
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