Bartók: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

Bela Bartok (Composer), Antoni Wit (Conductor), The National Polish Symphony Orchestra in Katowice (Orchestra), Gyorgy Pauk (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Gyorgy Pauk
• Orchestra: The National Polish Symphony Orchestra in Katowice
• Conductor: Antoni Wit
• Composer: Bela Bartok
• Audio CD (November 30, 1999)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naxos
• ASIN: B000026D30
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #172,657 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
We may never know why Bartók suppressed his First Violin Concerto and reused the two movements in other contexts. He may just have been dissatisfied with the piece, or it may have evoked painful memories of the violinist Stefi Geyer, for whom he wrote it when he was in love with her. It's fascinating early Bartók but not representative of the composer's best. The Second Concerto, on the other hand, is one of Bartók's masterpieces. It has seldom if ever been heard in better circumstances, with one of Hungary's best violinists giving a fervent and extremely sympathetic performance, very well backed up by the fine conductor and orchestra, in vividly recorded sound. Naxos's annotator doesn't seem to realize that the second movement of the Second Concerto is in theme-and-variations form, but otherwise this production could hardly be improved--a magnificent bargain for the price. --Leslie Gerber

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Colourful Bartok violin concerto performance, December 12, 2000

By	Gianluca La Villa (FERRARA, FE Italy) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Gyorgy Pauk's performance of Bela Bartok Second Violin Concerto, under the direction of Antoni Wit and with the Polish National Orchestra, is one of the best I have listened to. No exaggerated, cold, intellectualism, but a charming sense of the color of violin phrasing, give to this Concerto a smooth reading, giving space to all shades of the popular origin of Bartok's music well conveyed by his fellow citizen, the violinist. Pauk's Massart Stradivari sings through all the work, covering the technical difficulties of it as if they were ordinary passages.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of the best i've heard!, May 1, 2006

By	M. Grammar (Houston,Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

in terms of balance between soloist and orchestra i think this naxos cd is one of the best!tight performance and very transparent.i can heard parts in the orchestra that usally are muddied up.In terms of the soloist his sound is "silky" not "honkey" and his feel and exacution are as good as anyone.
thats my opinion anyway and i hope this helps.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely, April 25, 2008

By	David Saemann - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

One of the first things you notice about this CD is that the violinist is not close miked. Instead, the excellent sound engineering places him in the orchestral context, while everything he does remains full toned and clear sounding. The performance of the first concerto might put you in mind of the Berg Concerto. It is full of yearning and late Romanticism, although these feelings are never overdone. The second concerto is served by a performance that brings out all the majesty of the work. I'm still very fond of Henryk Szeryng's recording and, on Hungaroton, Denes Kovacs's. Nevertheless, this CD documents an important Hungarian artist, Gyorgy Pauk, in essential works of his great countryman, and thus has important documentary value in addition to the musical pleasure it gives.