Béla Bartók on Evening Music
Each month this season on WNYC, Evening Music will turn its attention to classical music's unsung heroes: composers consistently acknowledged for their vast influence and ingenuity, yet who nonetheless elude the radar screens of mainstream concert programmers, musicians and critics. To kick off this focus, September spotlights Béla Bartók (1881-1945), the Hungarian composer, musicologist, folklorist and a true pioneer of what we today call "World Music." Indeed, if modern music has long gotten a bad rap for being overly cerebral and complex, here's a composer who relished in the folk spirit of his homeland in sounds aggressive and edgy, sumptuous and sensual.
Some of the finest Bartók recordings have been culled from the WNYC music library for this series. Here's a preview of what to listen for:
Air Date: September 5
Concerto for Orchestra
Ivan Fisher, Budapest Festival Orchestra
Philips 45675
From the composer's homeland, there's a 1999 recording by Ivan Fisher and the Budapest Festival Orchestra of the five-moment showpiece, Concerto for Orchestra. Unlike many non-Hungarians, these players tackle the composer's folk-based rhythms with real character and zeal, yet don't exaggerate them.
Air Date: September 12
String Quartet No. 5
Emerson String Quartet
DG 423657
The following week, we'll feature the String Quartet No. 5, part of the six-quartet cycle that represents a high-water mark of string quartet writing in the 20th century. Featured will be the landmark 1987 set by the Emerson String Quartet (which earned a Grammy Award).
Air Date: September 19
Miraculous Mandarin
Riccardo Chailly, conductor
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Decca 458841
Then it's on to Bartók in his impressionist mode with the dance suite, Miraculous Mandarin. Conductor Riccardo Chailly and his Concertgebouw Orchestra lavish their supreme virtuosity on the composer's vivid technicolor orchestration and muted dynamics in this new recording.
Air Date: September 26
Contrasts: Trio for violin, clarinet, piano
Richard Stoltzman, Richard Goode, Lucy Chapman Stoltzman
RCA RD60170
Concluding the series is the clarinet trio, Contrasts, presented in a marvelous, 1990 Grammy Award-winning disc by clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, pianist Richard Goode, and violinist Lucy Chapman Stoltzman. Whether you're a newcomer to his music or a true believer, this weekly dose of Bartók is sure to make you sit up and listen with fresh ears.
Related Information:
Evening Music airs weekdays at 7PM on 93.9 FM
