Kodály: Music For Cello / Vardai
Label: BRILLIANT Catalog: BRI95574 Format: CD Würtz, Klára; Várdai, IstvánBartok’s assessment of Zoltán Kodály’s music as “the most perfect embodiment of the Hungarian spirit” will strike a chord with those familiar with the suite from his opera Háry János, the Dances of Galanta or indeed the works for cello which moved the instrument on from the Romantic idiom of Brahms, and at the same time looked backwards to the dancing elegance of Bach’s solo Suites. He had taught himself to play the cello to a reasonable standard (also the violin and viola) and while, as he freely admitted, not a natural virtuoso, he had a feeling for the instrument which is obvious in his writing. This is Várdai’s third album for Brilliant Classics, following the Solo Suites of Bach (BC95392) and a recording of the original version of Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations that won a glowing recommendation from Gramophone: ‘excitingly assured and agreeably spontaneous music-making… a superb performance triumphantly vindicates Tchaikovsky’s first thoughts… Várdai’s outstandingly fine contribution marries a gratifyingly sumptuous and varied tonal palette to a flawless technical address – that we shall be hearing a lot more from him I have not the slightest doubt.’ Price: $11.98 |