Martinu: Works for Violins and Orchestra | 
 enlarge | Creators: Bohuslav Martinu, Marcello Viotti, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Florian Zwiauer, Jan Pospichal
Label: Arte Nova Classics
Category: Music
List Price: $6.98
Buy New: $2.72
You Save: $4.26 (61%)
New (12) Used (5) from $1.55
Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 236531
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 723721138257
EAN: 0723721138257
ASIN: B000A2UBT8
Release Date: August 9, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New and Factory Sealed Item Fast Shipping
| |
| Tracks:
| • | 1. Poco allegro | | • | 2. Adagio | | • | 3. Allegro | | • | 1. Andante | | • | 2. Andante moderato | | • | 3. Poco allegro | | • | 1. Poco allegro | | • | 2. Moderato | | • | 3. Allegro con brio |
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
"Simplicity without banality, wit that avoids parody, charm that doesn't cloy, and forms that offer clarity without stiffness: these are the hallmarks of the classical style. Composers either have it or they don't, and it doesn't matter one bit if we're talking about Mozart and Haydn, or as here, Martinu. He had it in spades! Take the marvelous Concerto for Two Violins of 1950: if the slow movement doesn't crystallize all that's most appealing in a "classical style"--the tunefulness, elegance, sweetness, and sophistication--then we must reconsider the meaning of the term. There's even a delicious formal surprise, when the same movement's principal theme, speeded up, does double-duty for the finale. PThe Duo Concertante for two violins and orchestra dates back to Martinu's "Paris" period (the late 1920s and 1930s), and ranks with such masterpieces as the Concerto Grosso, Sinfonietta Giocosa, Concerto for String Quartet, and Sinfonia concertante. It has the same spiky harmonies and motor rhythms, and together with the Concerto for Two Violins constitutes the most important body of work for violin duo since the double concerto of Bach. These are marvelous works, in short, finely played by both soloists and particularly well conducted Marcello Viotti, who has Martinu's syncopated rhythmic style firmly in hand...All in all, this disc must be counted one of the gems of the Arte Nova catalog." (9/8 rating!) CLASSICS TODAY
|
| Customer Reviews:
A solid budget-price Martinu collection December 31, 2005
Edward Wright (Toronto, ON, Canada)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Given Bohuslav Martinu's enormous output, it is hardly surprising that much of his music remains largely unknown. This bargain-price disc goes some small way towards rectifying this by offering up recordings of three of the composer's lesser-known works. br / br /The Duo Concertant for Two Violins and Orchestra dates from 1937 and the end of the composer's Parisian period. Like most of the works of the preceding half-decade, this piece is a mixture of neo-classical rhythmic vivacity, lively melody and spiky harmony, all wrapped up in a concerto grosso-like structure. Apparently, Martinu regarded this particular composition as the most important of his Paris-era works, though to me it seems rather of a piece with many others. br / br /Straight from its opening bars, the Second Violin Concerto of 1943 evokes a completely different world, the serious, tense and almost symphonic world of several other fine and neglected violin concerti (Hindemith, Frank Martin and Roberto Gerhard, for example). Contrasting lyricism and drama throughout, this is one of the finest of the works from Martinu's US exile, perhaps only trumped by the Third Symphony and one or two other works. br / br /The Double Violin Concerto of 1950 breathes a more relaxed air. Though less rhapsodic in structure than much of Martinu's late work, it remains a delightful fount of lyrical melody and cheerful vivacity. Like the Second Violin Concerto, it is an underperformed gem, and hopefully this disc will bring it to the attention of new listeners. br / br /The performances here are more than acceptable, though occasionally I found them slightly wanting in rhythmic verve (the central section of the Double Violin Concerto's slow movement being an example). It is perhaps unfair to observe that the performance of the Second Violin Concerto falls short of the classic Suk/Neumann reading, beyond observing that therein lies the difference between a great performance and a merely good one (and perhaps that only the Czech Philharmonic really gets Martinu right). Nonetheless, given the low price and the lack of competition in the two-violin pieces, this disc clearly merits a solid recommendation.
|
|
|
