Nikos Skalkottas - The Land and The Sea of Greece (Lorenda Ramou)

Information

Composer: Nikos Skalkottas

• (01) The Land and the Sea of Greece, Ballet Suite
• (07) Island Images, Ballet Suite
• (13) The Maiden and Death, Ballet Suite
• (20) Procession to Acheron
• (21) Echo, Little Dance Piece

Lorenda Ramou, piano
Date: 2006
Label: BIS Records
https://bis.se/composer/skalkottas-nikos/skalkottas-the-land-and-the-sea-of-greece

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Review

The five items here are stage works, written as accompaniments to choreography of various types. If some of the music seems familiar this is because the bulk of the two largest works have appeared in other guises in the series: the orchestral The Maiden and Death (1938) as main coupling for the First Piano Concerto while the six movements of The Land and Sea of Greece (1948) surface as either the Four Images (1948) or components of the folk ballet The Sea (1948-49), released together last year.

The music featured here is predominantly in Skalkottas's late tonal idiom, but with little overtly in the manner of the Greek Dances, except in The Maiden and Death which also incorporates more advanced writing to telling dramatic effect. If The Land and Sea of Greece burns with less intensity than his major abstract utterances, it is more than mere occasional or illustrative music and casts a valuable side-light on his complex compositional make-up. Movements such as “The Vintage” and “The Grape Stomping” are terrifically effective, as are the six vignettes making up Island Images (1943). Curiously, both ballets feature a movement entitled “The Trawler” but - their “Bydlo”-like momentum aside - are utterly different.

Lorenda Ramou, the fifth pianist to grace the series, is fluent and well versed in contemporary styles. Her playing is full of verve and alive to the delicacy of Skalkottas's writing in the fillers Procession to Acheron and Echo as well as the major pieces. The BIS sound is of demonstration class, as usual. Recommended.

-- Guy Rickards, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2006/Nov06/Skalkottas_BISCD1564.htm
https://www.classicalsource.com/cd/the-land-and-the-sea-of-greece/
https://www.allmusic.com/album/nikos-skalkottas-the-land-and-the-sea-of-greece-mw0001866006

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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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