Search - Bartok, Chung, Rattle :: Violin Concerto 2 / Rhapsodies 1 & 2

First Rate Recordings

D. A Wend | Buffalo Grove, IL USA | 03/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Violin Concerto of Beal Bartok was written for violinist Zoltan Szekely, who convinced the composer to write a concerto instead of the set of variations that was Bartok's initial idea. This concerto has been renumbered as the second since the discovery of a concerto written in the early 1920's for Stefi Geyer, with whom Bartok was intimate with at the time. The concerto has lush harmonies and nothing of the composers more astringent works, such as the First Piano Concerto. The concerto was completed in 1938. After a short orchestral introduction, the soloist enters with a soaring melody that sets the tone for the movement. The second movement is more intimate and is a set of six variations with the soloist playing against smaller grouping of the orchestra. The finale returns to the full use of the orchestra and has some difficult passagework for the soloist. Kyung-Wha Chung plays this demanding work beautifully and is nicely supported by Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Orchestra.



The concerto is paired with the two Rhapsodies for Violin and Orchestra that were written in 1928 for Joseph Szigeti and Zoltan Szekely. The Rhapsodies are in two movements and have a Hungarian style similar to the Hungarian works of Franz Liszt. They are approachable virtuosic works with appealing dance melodies. This disc received excellent reviews when it was issued and the performances remain my first choice. I grew up with the records by Yehudi Menuhin and Kyung-Wha Chung plays with a similar depth of feeling for the music; a very satisfying disc.

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