tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post3562130219950618079..comments2024-03-28T12:59:05.739-07:00Comments on Iron Tongue of Midnight: For Bela BartokLisa Hirschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-60164490431890291412013-03-30T10:03:33.773-07:002013-03-30T10:03:33.773-07:00Bartok is on the set Composers in Person, but it&#...Bartok is on the set <a href="http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=208734" rel="nofollow">Composers in Person</a>, but it's all solo piano, no piano concertos, alas.Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-43514517275541098092013-03-29T06:15:37.895-07:002013-03-29T06:15:37.895-07:00Yefim Bronfman just did the Bartok 2nd Piano Conce...Yefim Bronfman just did the Bartok 2nd Piano Concerto here with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Ferocious performance, really great. But I came out of there wishing I could have heard Bartok perform it. Thanks for this bit. Was glad to be reminded of his freedom and brilliant finesse.Nancy Malitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02880669207814169777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-88957038329885051252013-03-26T09:59:55.881-07:002013-03-26T09:59:55.881-07:00I love that style of playing! After listening to t...I love that style of playing! After listening to the old dead guys who played with 19th c. style, I find most modern pianists overly rigid in 19th c. repertory.<br /><br />My favorite living pianist in Bartok, actually, is Kocsis, who has a more fluid, less driven style that most other pianists who play Bartok.Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-6546669571677113602013-03-26T09:31:14.059-07:002013-03-26T09:31:14.059-07:00The Szigeti/Bartok "Kreutzer" performanc...The Szigeti/Bartok "Kreutzer" performance is fascinating. Great headlong drive, which I think is very suitable for this piece; but Bartok uses a lot of what was once meant by <i>rubato,</i>, separating the left and right hand by a fraction of a second where the score indicates they're to be played simultaneously. This was apparently once standard practice but it strikes my ear as an annoying tic.john_burke100https://www.blogger.com/profile/07095645907050540263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-80826749929531157462013-03-25T21:03:38.768-07:002013-03-25T21:03:38.768-07:00He is one of my favorites, in any era. The string ...He is one of my favorites, in any era. The string quartets especially have been vastly influential, but, well, I love almost everything of his.<br /><br />Yes, his terrible last few years, poor, sick, and far from home. He also finished the viola concerto and third piano concerto in those last years, if I'm not mistaken. Maybe I am, the Wikipedia works list says "sketches only" for the viola concerto.<br /><br />With you all the way on wishing he'd written another opera. I went to two of the three SF Symphony performances of <i>Bluebeard</i> last year, and, jeez. I'd seen it performed three times already but not with an orchestra like that. Just an amazing experience.Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-63721032886268240072013-03-25T20:54:31.279-07:002013-03-25T20:54:31.279-07:00What a great composer, I favor his early Straussia...What a great composer, I favor his early Straussian stuff like the 4 Pieces Op. 12 or the first violin concerto, but he was pretty consistent no matter the style he used. It's really a shame he didn't write another opera and I'd love to see his three stage pieces done in one night (The Wooden Prince/The Miraculous Mandarin/Bluebeard's Castle).<br /><br />What a sad last few years for the man, how he managed to complete the incredible Concerto for Orchestra is amazing. Henry Hollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15871451112170286316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-68521860503282557872013-03-25T20:51:30.898-07:002013-03-25T20:51:30.898-07:00I think Bartok recorded a fair amount of his own m...I think Bartok recorded a fair amount of his own music, and my recollection is that much of it is played more freely than the music necessarily indicates. A lesson, perhaps, for current interpreters of his music.<br /><br />Thank you, Nik. I have added a phrase to my scant knowledge of Magyar. :)Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-12916242964345538172013-03-25T17:56:24.393-07:002013-03-25T17:56:24.393-07:00That performance of Allegro Barbaro has a freer te...That performance of Allegro Barbaro has a freer tempo than I've heard before. Toldainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00501926678749747844noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-44747914034402577362013-03-25T17:43:31.484-07:002013-03-25T17:43:31.484-07:00Boldog születésnapot, Bela! (Hungarian is probably...Boldog születésnapot, Bela! (Hungarian is probably my favorite language to type Happy Birthday in.)Nikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18357685620487678217noreply@blogger.com