Search - Bela Bartok, Ernst von Dohnanyi, Zoltan Kodaly :: Hungarian Music for Cello and Piano

A Varied and Rewarding Recital

M. C. Passarella | Lawrenceville, GA | 03/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A thoroughly rewarding disc. There's a lot of enticing music here and, given the seemingly narrow parameters implied by the program, real variety as well. The compositions on offer, despite the fact that several were written in the 20th century, are predominantly lyrical and tend toward the High Romantic, even the work of that steely modernist Bartok, here represented by one of his populist offerings from the 1920s written to gain a broader audience for his music. The typical Bartokian dissonances are in evidence right away, but the melodies sing in the first movement, sing and swing in the playful second movement.



Speaking of High Romanticism, that is represented in spades by Dohnanyi's wonderfully appealing Cello Sonata. It pays obvious homage to Brahms, but if Dohnanyi hadn't found his real musical voice yet in this 1899 work, there is enough spice and fire in the piece to evoke Dohnanyi's ethnic roots, especially in the passionate first movement and scherzo, bounding with peasant dance rhythms. Even the theme-and-variations finale, another seeming bow to Brahms who favored this form, is distinctive, with tangy harmonies and melodic turns.



The slightly later (1905) Kodaly Adagio is uncharacteristic of its composer's best-known music, showing the influence of Brahms as well at this stage in his career. If you're familiar with the wildly innovative Solo Cello Sonata of ten years later, this ripe, romantic piece might surprise and even puzzle, but it's a lovely work that confirms the early mastery Kodaly achieved in the realm of chamber music.



The most modern-sounding work on the disc, Rosza's Toccata capricciosa for solo cello, recalls some of the fiery primitivism of Kodaly's Solo Cello Sonata. It's a dashing tour de force, and Kosower brings it off dazzlingly.



A little less memorable is the Liszt work and Dohnanyi's Ruralia hungarica, but I'm glad for their inclusion, as they offer a song-like intimacy and yearning in contrast to the prevailingly extrovert music on this disc. If that's the case, then I suppose David Popper's two salon pieces provide light entertainment by way of further contrast. Of the two, the Mazurka is the more attractive, but I can certainly live without either.



Not so the other works on this disc. They make up a program that would be breathtaking if heard live and is hardly less so in recorded form, especially since Mark Kosower and Je-Won Oh are so well attuned to the demands of the music and to each other. Kosower's tone and technique are impeccable and make for finely enjoyable listening, but since the pianist is asked to deliver equal measures of poetry and drama throughout these works--and Dohnanyi demands absolutely virtuoso playing as well--Oh deserves plaudits equally. Naxos provides a truthful and intimate recording, so nothing is lacking to make this one of the best cello recitals I know of on disc."

You will not be disappointed!

Amy Arnold | Lawrenceburg IN | 02/13/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is some of the best cello playing I have ever heard recorded, even to a well trained ear like mine. Buy with confidence."