Miklos Rozsa: Viola Concerto, Hungarian Serenade
Budapest Concert Orchestra, Hungary.
“Miklos Rozsa: Viola Concerto, Hungarian Serenade”
NAXOS International, December, 2008
Two fine works rich in Magyar colours
The Hungarian Serenade started its life in the early 1930's (...), it is high-quality music and superbly played here. Karni proves a fine advocate of the Viola Concerto and the Budapest Concert Orchestra under the direction of Mariusz Smolij provide excellent support.
Guy Rickards, The Gramophone Magazine, United Kingdom The Hungarian Serenade started its life in the early 1930's (...), it is high-quality music and superbly played here. Karni proves a fine advocate of the Viola Concerto and the Budapest Concert Orchestra under the direction of Mariusz Smolij provide excellent support.
Sterling performances
The Budapest Symphony Orchestra turns in sterling performances for Mariusz Smolij, and the stage for Naxos’s recording is wide and deep. A welcome and recommended addition to the catalog.
J. Dubins, Fanfare Magazine, Tenafly, New Jersey The Budapest Symphony Orchestra turns in sterling performances for Mariusz Smolij, and the stage for Naxos’s recording is wide and deep. A welcome and recommended addition to the catalog.
Magnificent performance
This performance is magnificent, as is the engineering. Karni’s depth of emotion, tone color, and line make each movement a unified whole. Smolij’s orchestra is an equal partner in creating the involuted drama in I and III, while maintaining a tight pace with subtle relief in the Giocoso. He also makes sure that the darker orchestral colors never cover the soloist. In fact, the first movement would be a completely satisfying concert experience just by itself. And are those low harmonics I hear in the viola at the end of first movement? They are as haunting as the glass harmonica in Lucia di Lammermoor.
Gil French, American Record Guide, Cincinnati, Ohio This performance is magnificent, as is the engineering. Karni’s depth of emotion, tone color, and line make each movement a unified whole. Smolij’s orchestra is an equal partner in creating the involuted drama in I and III, while maintaining a tight pace with subtle relief in the Giocoso. He also makes sure that the darker orchestral colors never cover the soloist. In fact, the first movement would be a completely satisfying concert experience just by itself. And are those low harmonics I hear in the viola at the end of first movement? They are as haunting as the glass harmonica in Lucia di Lammermoor.
Viola Concerto - Deeply satisfying work
Sound and recording are up to Naxos’s usual standards of excellence, as are the Budapest Concert Orchestra and its conductor, Mariusz Smolij. Recommended, especially for the Viola Concerto, which you are bound to find a deeply satisfying work.
J. Dubins, Fanfare Magazine, Tenafly, New Jersey Sound and recording are up to Naxos’s usual standards of excellence, as are the Budapest Concert Orchestra and its conductor, Mariusz Smolij. Recommended, especially for the Viola Concerto, which you are bound to find a deeply satisfying work.