Notes and Editorial Reviews
BARTÓK
Sonata for Solo Violin,
BB 124.
Violin Sonata in e,
BB 28.
Hungarian Folk Songs,
BB 109.
Hungarian Folk Tunes. Romanian Folk Dances
•
James Ehnes (vn); Andres Armstrong (pn)
•
CHANDOS 10752 (78:08)
In 35:6, Ehnes and Armstrong’s Volume 1 of Bartók’s violin and piano works earned Robert Maxham’s unhesitating
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recommendation. Here we have Volume 2, which contains the composer’s oft-recorded Sonata for Solo Violin and the comparatively seldom recorded E-Minor Sonata for Violin and Piano, an extraordinary and very substantial work written by the 22-year-old Bartók in 1903. It’s hard to understand why this impassioned, romantic work has been neglected; perhaps it’s because it doesn’t fit the profile of the Bartók we’re familiar with. But even if there were no other reason to buy this disc, this 30-minute-long sonata would be reason enough; for it presents a sweeping documentary of the dominant forces at work in the music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Echoes of Brahms—listen to the passage beginning at 3:05 in the first movement—commingle with Fauré, Debussy, and Ravel. And if the last movement didn’t have Bartók’s name on it, you’d surely think it was a newly discovered Hungarian dance by Brahms, or perhaps a newly discovered Slavonic dance by Dvo?ák.
But there are lots of other reasons to acquire this CD as well. In fairly short order, Canadian violinist James Ehnes has risen to the very top ranks of today’s internationally acclaimed violin virtuosos, and his rapidly expanding discography, which includes much of the standard violin repertoire—though I’m still waiting for him to give us recordings of the Beethoven, Brahms, and Sibelius concertos—has received critical praise in
Fanfare
and elsewhere.
Bartók dedicated his sonata for unaccompanied violin to Yehudi Menuhin who premiered it in 1944 and went on to record it in 1947 and again in 1957 and 1975 for EMI. Menuhin was an early and important promoter of Bartók’s music, but by the time of his last recording of the piece (the one I have), the action of his bow arm had deteriorated to the point where he was simply not up to the sonata’s technical challenges. He flounders through much of it, severely mangling some passages while merely approximating others. It’s a sad thing to hear. But even before Menuhin began to decline, I don’t think he could have matched Ehnes in precision of finger-to-bow coordination and surgical sharpness of technique. Menuhin was not that kind of player; his unique gift and great artistry lay in his interpretive insight and communicative power. He was not a virtuoso dazzler in the manner of Heifetz, Francescatti, or Ruggiero Ricci—maybe as a wunderkind he was, but not later. Ehnes makes Bartók’s unaccompanied sonata sound, if not exactly easy, at least under absolute control, with dead accurate intonation and amazingly clean articulation of the score’s knotty double-stopping. His tone never turns grating or gruff, and he never sounds stressed. For all that, I can’t honestly say that Ehnes persuades me that it’s a beautiful piece any more than do Christian Tetzlaff on Virgin Classics or Vilde Frang on her fairly recent recording for EMI. It’s just a very tough, thorny work, nearly as difficult for the listener as it is for the performer.
The sets of Hungarian and Romanian folk pieces are easier on the ear and played with real flair and feeling for the idiom by Ehnes and Andrew Armstrong. Again, the main item on this disc that makes it, in my opinion, a must-have acquisition is the gorgeous E-Minor Sonata, which Ehnes and Armstrong deliver with expressive romantic fervor.
FANFARE: Jerry Dubins
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Works on This Recording
1.
Sonata for Violin solo, Sz 117 by Béla Bartók
Performer:
James Ehnes (Violin)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1944; USA
Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk
Length: 25 Minutes 42 Secs.
2.
Sonata for violin & piano in E minor, BB 28, DD 72 by Béla Bartók
Performer:
Andrew Armstrong (Piano),
James Ehnes (Violin)
Period: Modern
Written: 1903
Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk
Length: 29 Minutes 23 Secs.
3.
Hungarian Folksong: "Debrecennek van egy vize", for voice & piano, Sz. 109, BB 109 by Béla Bartók
Performer:
Andrew Armstrong (Piano),
James Ehnes (Violin)
Period: Modern
Written: 1936; Hungary
Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk
Length: 1 Minutes 30 Secs.
4.
Hungarian Folk Tunes: 1. Book 2 No. 28. Parlando - by Béla Bartók
Performer:
James Ehnes (Violin),
Andrew Armstrong (Piano)
Period: Modern
Written: 1914-1918; Hungary
Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk
Length: 1 Minutes 5 Secs.
5.
Hungarian Folk Tunes: 1. Book 1 No. 18. Andante non molto - by Béla Bartók
Performer:
James Ehnes (Violin),
Andrew Armstrong (Piano)
Period: Modern
Written: 1914-1918; Hungary
Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk
Length: 0 Minutes 55 Secs.
6.
Hungarian Folk Tunes: 1. Book 2 No. 42. Allegro vivace by Béla Bartók
Performer:
James Ehnes (Violin),
Andrew Armstrong (Piano)
Period: Modern
Written: 1914-1918; Hungary
Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk
Length: 1 Minutes 34 Secs.
7.
Hungarian Folk Tunes: 2. Book 2 No. 42. Allegro vivace by Béla Bartók
Performer:
James Ehnes (Violin),
Andrew Armstrong (Piano)
Period: Modern
Written: 1914-1918; Hungary
Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk
Length: 1 Minutes 32 Secs.
8.
Hungarian Folk Tunes: 2. Book 1 No. 6. Allegro - by Béla Bartók
Performer:
James Ehnes (Violin),
Andrew Armstrong (Piano)
Period: Modern
Written: 1914-1918; Hungary
Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk
Length: 0 Minutes 41 Secs.
9.
Hungarian Folk Tunes: 3. Book 1 No. 13. Andante - by Béla Bartók
Performer:
James Ehnes (Violin),
Andrew Armstrong (Piano)
Period: Modern
Written: 1914-1918; Hungary
Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk
Length: 0 Minutes 54 Secs.
10.
Hungarian Folk Tunes: 3. Book 2 No. 38. Poco vivace by Béla Bartók
Performer:
Andrew Armstrong (Piano),
James Ehnes (Violin)
Period: Modern
Written: 1914-1918; Hungary
Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk
Length: 0 Minutes 57 Secs.
11.
Romanian Folkdances (6) for Piano, Sz 56 by Béla Bartók
Performer:
Andrew Armstrong (Piano),
James Ehnes (Violin)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1915; Budapest, Hungary
Venue: Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk
Length: 4 Minutes 2 Secs.
Sound Samples
Violin Sonata, BB 124: I. Tempo di ciaccona
Violin Sonata, BB 124: II. Fuga: Risoluto, non troppo vivo
Violin Sonata, BB 124: III. Melodia: Adagio
Violin Sonata, BB 124: IV. Presto
Violin Sonata in E minor, BB 28: I. Allegro moderato (molto rubato)
Violin Sonata in E minor, BB 28: II. Andante
Violin Sonata in E minor, BB 28: III. Vivace
Magyar nepdalok (Hungarian Folksongs), BB 109 (arr. T. Orszagh): No. 1. Andante - Un poco piu lento (arr. of For Children, Vol. 2, No. 34)
Magyar nepdalok (Hungarian Folksongs), BB 109 (arr. T. Orszagh): No. 2. Allegretto (arr. of For Children, Vol. 2, No. 36)
Magyar nepdalok (Hungarian Folksongs), BB 109 (arr. T. Orszagh): No. 3. Lento, ma non troppo (arr. of For Children, Vol. 1, No. 17)
Magyar nepdalok (Hungarian Folksongs), BB 109 (arr. T. Orszagh): No. 4. Allegro (arr. of For Children, Vol. 2, No. 31)
Magyar nepdalok (Hungarian Folksongs), BB 109 (arr. T. Orszagh): No. 5. Lento, poco rubato (arr. of For Children, Vol. 1, No. 16)
Magyar nepdalok (Hungarian Folksongs), BB 109 (arr. T. Orszagh): No. 6. Allegretto (arr. of For Children, Vol. 1, No. 14)
Magyar nepdalok (Hungarian Folksongs), BB 109 (arr. T. Orszagh): No. 7. Allegretto, scherzando (arr. of For Children, Vol. 1, No. 19)
Magyar nepdalok (Hungarian Folksongs), BB 109 (arr. T. Orszagh): No. 8. Sostenuto - Allegro - Adagio (arr. of For Children, Vol. 1, No. 8)
Magyar nepdalok (Hungarian Folksongs), BB 109 (arr. T. Orszagh): No. 9. Allegro robusto (arr. of For Children, Vol. 1, No. 21)
For Children, BB 53 (based on Hungarian folk tunes) (arr. J. Szigeti for violin and piano): No. 1. Parlando (arr. of For Children, Vol. 2, No. 28)
For Children, BB 53 (based on Hungarian folk tunes) (arr. J. Szigeti for violin and piano): No. 2. Andante non molto (arr. of For Children, Vol. 1, No. 18)
For Children, BB 53 (based on Hungarian folk tunes) (arr. J. Szigeti for violin and piano): No. 3. Allegro vivace (arr. of For Children, Vol. 2, No. 42)
For Children, BB 53 (based on Hungarian folk tunes) (arr. J. Szigeti for violin and piano): No. 4. Andante sostenuto (arr. of For Children, Vol. 2, No. 33)
For Children, BB 53 (based on Hungarian folk tunes) (arr. J. Szigeti for violin and piano): No. 5. Allegro (arr. of For Children, Vol. 1, No. 6)
For Children, BB 53 (based on Hungarian folk tunes) (arr. J. Szigeti for violin and piano): No. 6. Andante (arr. of For Children, Vol. 1, No. 13)
For Children, BB 53 (based on Hungarian folk tunes) (arr. J. Szigeti for violin and piano): No. 7. Poco vivace (arr. of For Children, Vol. 2, No. 38)
Roman nepi tancok (Romanian Folk Dances), BB 68 (arr. Z. Szekely): No. 1. Jocul cu bata (Stick Dance)
Roman nepi tancok (Romanian Folk Dances), BB 68 (arr. Z. Szekely): No. 2. Braul (Sash Dance)
Roman nepi tancok (Romanian Folk Dances), BB 68 (arr. Z. Szekely): No. 3. Pe loc (In One Place)
Roman nepi tancok (Romanian Folk Dances), BB 68 (arr. Z. Szekely): No. 4. Buciumeana (Horn Dance)
Roman nepi tancok (Romanian Folk Dances), BB 68 (arr. Z. Szekely): No. 5. Poarga Romaneasca (Romanian Polka)
Roman nepi tancok (Romanian Folk Dances), BB 68 (arr. Z. Szekely): No. 6. Maruntel (Fast Dance)
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 
( 1 Customer Review )
WOW January 21, 2013
By Bob B. See All My Reviews
"How can it get better: - excellent material - rarely recorded - excellent execution - what beauty - excellent recording engineering - Chandos quality! All adds up to one an OUTSTANDING recording - a delight to absorb."
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