Customer Reviews

Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra; Mi-parti; Musique funèbre

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This music is aggressively Modernist, dissonant, and complicated; and it is rugged, majestic, and gorgeous. These are powerful, masterful performances of great masterworks of the 20th century repertoire, and I enjoyed this album every bit as much as I have any other from the very, very best of this genre: Reiner and the old Chicago Symphony playing the Bartók Concerto for Orchestra, or Boulez and the New York Philharmonic playing Stravinsky's Petrouchka. Whether you're familiar with the style and with these works or you're only beginning to explore Modernism and 20th century classical music, this is one of the very best albums of its kind and I could not recommend it more highly.

The Concerto for Orchestra is a big, sprawling piece, indebted of course to Bartók's but in no way derivative of it. It's a marvelous opportunity for a big virtuoso orchestra to pull out all the stops and offer a full demonstration of its virtuosity, and the BBC Philharmonic is more than up to the task. Musique Funèbre is a 12-tone, serial composition, and one of the best I know. Leaner and more agile than the Concerto, it's a gripping showstopper and not at all confusing or difficult, as many listeners find (or believe they will find) serialism to be. Mi-parti is an aleatoric work, and with this one you might need to devote several listenings as it's a bit difficult; but it's rewarding and expressive, as well, and it adds an intriguing depth and variety to the album.

Tortelier is perhaps my favorite interpreter of 20th century music: I'll have to hear a few more of his albums before I decide, but I suspect that I might prefer his work as an interpreter even to that of Pierre Boulez. His expressive grasp of and contribution to Modernist scores them is very impressive.