"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.
The 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
Martinu: Works for Violins and Orchestra,Bohuslav Martinu,Marcello Viotti,Wiener Symphoniker,Florian Zwiauer,Jan Pospichal,Arte Nova Classics,Classical,Classical Composers,Concerto,Concerto for Two String Instruments,Orchestral & Symphonic
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Martinu: Works for Violins and Orchestra
Manufacturer: Arte Nova Classics ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  All Works by Martinu
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ASIN: B000A2UBT8 Release Date: 2005-08-09 |
Tracks:
- Poco Allegro
- Adagio
- Allegro
- Andante
- Andante Moderato
- Poco Allegro
- Poco Allegro
- Moderato
- Allegro Con Brio
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.The 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.......2006-01-01
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.
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.
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.
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.
Track Listings:
- Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 8
- Music to Tsar Boris / Epic Poem
- Opera Overtures & Preludes
- Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Complete Works For Piano And Orchestra
- Piano Trios 1 & 3
- Piano Works 4 / Ludus Tonalis
- Prima Diva
- Purcell: Instrumental Music
- Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake
- Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty
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