Nikos Skalkottas - From Berlin to Athens (Lorenda Ramou)

Information

Composer: Nikos Skalkottas

• (01) Griechische Suite
• (04) (Suite)
• (07) Sonatina
• (10) 15 kleine Variationen für Klavier
• (11) Suite No. 2
• (15) Suite No. 3
• (19) Suite No. 4
• (23) The Gnomes, Dance Suite for Piano

Lorenda Ramou, piano
Date: 2019
Label: BIS Records
https://bis.se/performers/ramou-lorenda/from-berlin-to-athens-piano-music-by-nikos-skalkottas

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Review

Eighty-eight minutes? Well, 87'43" of intelligently programmed piano music by Skalkottas, including three world premieres, complementing BIS’s previous groundbreaking releases from Nikolaos Samaltanos (11/01) and Lorenda Ramou herself (12/06). The programme falls into three phases, not quite chronologically arranged. First come four works from his Berlin student period: the delightful Greek Suite (1924), one of his earliest surviving compositions, a vibrant reflection of trends in Greek music of the time. Even more striking is the slightly incomplete piece known as (Suite) – the first two pages are missing – of the same year with its grave and haunting central Molto moderato and whimsical virtuoso finale, Shimmy tempo. (Skalkottas did ‘jazz’ – who knew?)

The Sonatina and Fifteen Little Variations date from 1927 and appeared in BIS’s series before. They show a growth in expressive and technical refinement in Skalkottas’s piano-writing, features which flowered in the works in the second part of the recital, Suites Nos 2 4 (1940 41), composed in Athens. Unrelated to the Suite No 1 (1936, 11/01), Nos 2 4 chart a stylistic move from expressionism to a more objective neoclassicism. Unlike the Berlin suites and Sonatina, these later works are all in four movements, more varied in format. Finally, from 1939, comes Skalkottas’s original dance suite for the children’s ballet The Gnomes, which Yannis Samprovalakis unearthed in 2015. It was rejected as too advanced for children and replaced by the more familiar score, based around arrangements of several pieces from Bartók’s For Children (3/05). Written in the hybrid manner combining nationalist and expressionist elements featured in other scores of the period, this is not top-drawer Skalkottas, perhaps, but is entertaining nonetheless.

Ramou navigates her way through these sometimes knotty scores, which she clearly knows inside-out, with consummate musicianship. The piano tone is warm and full although the over-resonant acoustic is not ideal (Samaltanos fared better). However, with BIS’s superb recorded sound, every nuance is captured in a constantly fascinating and rewarding issue.

-- Guy Rickards, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2019/Jun/Skalkottas_piano_BIS2364.htm

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Nikos Skalkottas (21 March 1904 – 19 September 1949) was a Greek composer of 20th-century classical music. He studied composition with Robert Kahn, Paul Juon, Kurt Weill & Philipp Jarnach, and was a member of Arnold Schoenberg's Masterclass between 1927 and 1932. Throughout his career Skalkottas remained faithful to the neo-classical ideals. His output comprised symphonic works, chamber, vocal and instrumental works including the huge cycle of 32 Piano Pieces. A member of the Second Viennese School, he drew his influences from both the classical repertoire and the Greek tradition.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikos_Skalkottas

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Lorenda Ramou studied at the Paris Conservatoire and London’s City University, and took part in courses with Pierre Boulez, David Robertson and Pierre-Laurent Aimard. Ramou’s predilection for the contemporary repertoire is reflected by all her artistic choices. Her recitals often combine piano music with the plastic arts, literature and theatre. She has appeared in famous venues, at numerous European festivals and made tours in the USA and Chile. Greek piano music occupies a special place in her research projects, concerts, lectures and recordings. Ramou teaches piano at the Athens Conservatory.
https://bis.se/performers/ramou-lorenda/

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