Menahem Pressler plays Music for Children of Bartok

Bartok's series of Music for Children contains deceptively simple but imaginative music nonetheless. From MGM E3047, the great Menahem Pressler performs the 39 Pieces based on Slovak folksongs. Now to find volume 1 containing the Hungarian folksongs!

It's a shame that more pianists don't have a go at this genre. I suppose some turn their noses up at the brevity and apparent ease of the writing. It's not virtuoso music and will not have them standing in the aisles. Yet, the charm of these miniatures is that they will bring a smile to the face and your mind will wander, in a positive, childlike way.

What a great artist Menahem Pressler is! Tasteful, immaculately prepared, serious in that he did not approach these pieces in a condescending way. Marvelous!


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Lukas Foss leads the Zimbler Sinfonietta in Bartok, Ives and more

A quick post today as I get myself ready to head north to Mount Snow, Vermont for their annual Oktoberfest festivities. Last weekend, the band was performing at the Harpoon Brewery on the Boston waterfront. Though rain put a damper on Friday night, the weather held for Saturday and the event drew over 10,000 thirsty patrons!

Here is the Turnabout reissue of the Unicorn record pictured above. I dissed the electronic stereo enhancement and returned the record back to its monophonic charm. Rather cutely, if you look at the cover of the Unicorn issue Lukas Foss, the conductor, has his name spelled "Lucas." Foss leads the reliable Zimbler Sinfonietta in engaging performances of the following works:

Ives - The Unanswered Question, trumpet solo Roger Voisin
Milhaud - Symphony no. 4 for strings
Skalkottas - Little Suite for strings
Bartok - Divertimento for string orchestra

There is vigorous leadership here, you might say, youthful, as Foss was in his mid 30's at the time of the recording. I think a lot of people forget just how gifted Foss was. Indeed, he was a close second in popularity to his esteemed associate Leonard Bernstein. Both shared teachers, had rich and varied talents, and were able to cross over easily into more popular forms of musical expression. Brilliant men both, without question. This record makes a strong case for Lukas Foss the modern conductor and his grasp on each piece is strong and musical.

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More from Robert Gerle

More music (this time authentic Hungarian) played by Robert Gerle. This is a Westminster stereo issue from 1968. Accompanied by pianist Regis Benoit, Mr Gerle plays a variety of shorter pieces by Bartok, Kodaly, and Dohnanyi. The front covers features a photo of Kodaly congratulating Gerle at a Budapest recital given by the latter.

I like this lp better than the previous post of Brahms' Hungarian Dances. Perhaps it is me, but I sense that Gerle delves into the guts of the music with more intensity, perhaps due to the fact that this is music that he grew up with and is native to his soul. I would suppose that returning to his native country after being in "exile" in the US was an emotional experience and performing works by men that played a role in his development brought out the best in this artist. I really sense a strong attachment to the Kodaly works, especially so.

This is a nice recital.
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Music of Weiner and Bartok with Antal Dorati

An monaural Epic lp, from around 1960 I think, of Antal Dorati conducting the then newly formed Philharmonia Hungarica. The program features Bartok's Divertimento for String Orchestra and Weiner's Suite Op 18 on Hungarian Folk Dances.

Bartok's Divertimento has been well served on record and Dorati himself made at least 3 recordings of the piece; I think one of his first records in Minneapolis featured the Divertimento. Weiner, unfortunately, has fared less well though Dorati and Fritz Reiner were among a small group of conductors who would feature their fellow Hungarian's output from time to time. It's too bad because it is good music and can stand alongside Kodaly, Dohnanyi and Bartok.  Dorati, of course, achieves the desired result with his band of mostly exiled Hungarian musicians. The orchestra itself had as its nucleus, Hungarian who had fled Hungary after the failed 1956 uprising. The orchestra lived a distinguished 35 year existence ultimately disbanding after the iron curtain fell.

Antal Dorati does not get the kind of credit he deserves as an orchestra building. Along with Artur Rodzinski, in his prime, he was viewed as a conductor who could achieve quick and sustainable results. His efforts in Minneapolis, London, Washington and Detroit all offer proof of a thoughtful and meticulous musical mind. And, lending his name to the Philharmonia Hungarica ensured success to that ensemble during its fledgling years.

A nice record of music that Dorati could not disappoint in.

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Eugene Ormandy with those Fabulous Philadelphians in Bartok

I've really grown to appreciate the 1940's through 50's recordings that Ormandy made with his incredible Philadelphia band. Here's a very good one, the 1954 recording of Bartok's masterpiece, the Concerto for Orchestra. Ormandy would go on to record this two more times, in stereo, but I think the overall playing and energy level, not to mention concentration of the conductor is not to be beaten here.

This recording had the unfortunate timimg of having to compete with Reiner's Chicago stereo remake. Reiner was considered ,and billed as, the leading authority in Bartok's music, perhaps only rivaled by Fricsay, who was European based and little known on these shores. Reiner's record is excellent and has stood the test of time, but no doubt but there is much to enjoy here too. Ormandy, being a native Hungarian, understood the idiom well and was able to project the work honestly and with sufficient authority. And, this is a piece made for the virtuoso talents of the Philadelphia Orchestra as the section chairs have the opportunity to shine brilliantly. Great listening.

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