Concerto pour orchestra

"There hasn't been a coupling of these two iconic works this successful in, well, decades ... Start with the Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta ... Mälkki sounds just about perfect ... The Helsinki strings play with extraordinary discipline ... It's a great performance. So is that of the Concerto for Orchestra. Perhaps the best thing I can say about it is that it sounds like a genuine collaborative effort between conductor and orchestra ... This really is an exceptional release. If you love this music, be sure to hear it".

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"Das Philharmonische Orchester Helsinki erweist sich einmal mehr als Orchester von Weltrang, das mit grösster Präzision Bartóks äußerst kunstvolle und vielschichtige Texturen durchhörbar und erfahrbar macht. Dieser Eindruck wird durch die gewohnt exzellente Klangqualität des Labels BIS noch verstärkt".

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"Commencing a series on Onyx dedicated to the orchestral music of Béla Bartók, Thomas Dausgaard and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra deliver dynamic performances of one of the composer's greatest works, the Concerto for Orchestra, SZ 116, accompanied by the less famous but deserving Suite No. 1, SZ 31, presented here without cuts ... Recorded in February 2019 at the City Halls of Glasgow, the sound is full and vibrant, with clear details and rich tone".

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"Det er forbløffende, så samlede Ozawas strygere er. Smidige og velspillende som bare pokker i en "Koncert for orkester", der også byder på dejligt drilske træblæsere og en besnærende flothed".

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"Two quintessential Bartók works in fine performances. The Concerto for Orchestra, in particular, is a piece that suits Marin Alsop down to the ground, and one that allows her to put her Baltimore players through their pieces ... with both intelligence and vitality, producing a vivid performance. The Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta is a harder piece to bring off ... However, this is an impressive account".

"Orchestral choice: Mälkki and her Helsinki Philharmonic offer performances that are at once satisfying, dazzling and individual. There's a poise, indeed an elegance, to the basic good posture of these interpretations, held on a taut rein, with shifts of energy splendidly controlled and unshakable technical excellence worn nonchalantly ... The playing itself is superb, often virtuosic, while Mälkki's concept combines the composer's imagination at both his brightest and darkest with an almost Mozartian sense of structural balance".

"Ein vorzügliches Orchester und eine bei Bartók ausgewiesene Chefdirigentin, was lag da näher, als die Bartók-Serie um die beiden sinfonischen Hauptwerke des ungarischen Komponisten zu erweitern? Auf der Strawinsky-Hindemith-Skala verschiebt dieses Album Bartók ein wenig in Richtung auf Letzteren, was die Sämigkeit und das Musikantische betrifft. Der superbe Klang ist durchsichtig und transportiert viel Sinnlichkeit. Die Strukturen werden ebenso lustvoll deutlich wie die Dimensionen des Ausdrucks".

"Concerto choice: These new recordings are really splendid, with sensitive and thoughtful playing from the Spanish pianist Javier Perianes, and meticulous conducting from his compatriot Pablo Heras-Casado ... Heras-Casado's tempo is fully in keeping with the composer's Allegro vivade marking. The recorded sound in both works is exemplary".

"Die weiss-blauen Philharmoniker folgen Pablo Heras Casado beweglich und präzise, der 40-jährige Spanier führt gewandt und mit sicherem Formsinn durch die Partituren, und er hat in seinem gleichaltrigen Landsmann einen technischt überlegen und klanglich perfekt ausgewogen spielenden Solisten. - Ein lohnender Bartók, besonders für Bartók-Beginner".

"America's legendary orchestra is back on formidable form ... there are several fine Concerto for orchestra ... but this latest version, recorded with brillance and clarity by Ondine, goes to the top of the tree for its combination of insight, brilliance and musicality of line".

"På denne cd får vi både et kendt og et ukendt værk. Det kendte er hans sidste orkesterværk og største hit, 'Koncert for orkester' fra 1943, det ukendte er ungdomsværket 'Suite nr. 1' fra 1905. Det er første gang suiten indspilles i den originale uforkortede, halvtimelange version ... et sprudlende og udadvendt stykke musik ... Det får en rigtig god opførelse af Thomas Dausgaard og det skotske orkester, der spiller skarpt og præcist, med virtuositet og stor rytmisk elan".

"Dausgaard and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra make a convincing case for this sometimes disorientating piece [Suite No. 1], with plenty of drive and contrast, plus consistently well-defined characterisation. The Concerto for Orchestra is played with tremendous relish ... Recorded sound quality is sympathetic and clear, enabling the detailed writing to be heard without resonant overkill".

"This is one of the most accurate versions of the piece I've heard ... A lack of essential roughness, which means that the first big string outbursts in the first and third movement are swoony rather that passionate".