Information
Composer: Nikos Skalkottas
Geoffrey Douglas Madge, piano
Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Nikos Christodoulou, conductor
Date: 1999
Label: BIS Records
https://bis.se/conductors/christodoulou-nikos/skalkottas-the-maiden-and-death
- (01) The Maiden and Death, ballet suite
- (07) Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra
- (10) Ouvertüre Concertante
Geoffrey Douglas Madge, piano
Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Nikos Christodoulou, conductor
Date: 1999
Label: BIS Records
https://bis.se/conductors/christodoulou-nikos/skalkottas-the-maiden-and-death
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This CD is a good one with which to approach Nikos Skalkottas (1904-49) if his music is unfamiliar to you and you prefer orchestral to instrumental music. Unless you are totally allergic to serial music I would also recommend playing the three works in reverse order for an exciting plunge into the deep end!
The Ouverture Concertante from the mid-1940s is in Skalkottas's most developed serial method, but there really is no need to bother about that. It is brilliant and exuberant, with solo winds, cello, timpani featured, and a group of four solo violins. A very exciting piece, and without studying the detailed notes by Nikos Christodoulos you'd never guess that there is a central point after which there is a retrograde 'mirror' recapitulation. It is an uncommonly exhilarating piece, only nine minutes long but full of event and culminating with a presto coda.
After that you'll be ready for the first of Skalkottas's piano concertos (one of nine surviving concertos). This dates back to 1931, when the composer was in his late twenties, during his period in the Schonberg circle. Schonberg apparently was displeased that Skalkottas used a group of thematically conceived tone rows instead of remaining true to orthodoxy. The concerto was left in Berlin after the composer returned to Athens, and only rediscovered after his death. It is a very winning work, full of life and colour and much more listener friendly than Schonberg's own piano concerto, which holds a tenuous place in the concert repertoire. Again, Skalkottas uses reversal in the imaginative recapitulation of his first movement. The next is expressive, dramatic, dark and unusually original. The finale is high spirited and dance-like, dispelling earlier tensions. Twenty-one minutes full of action!
Finally (that is firstly) is the major ballet suite of 1938 The Maiden and Death, an example of the tonal music which Skalkottas continued to compose alongside his serial compositions. It is picturesque, very atmospheric and with elements of Greek folk music, all blended into a personal style characterised by imaginative and vivid orchestration.
The performances and recording are splendid throughout and all this music demands to be heard and, who knows, brought into the concert repertoire, albeit belatedly. You may need a magnifying glass to help with the informative biographical notes by Jason Dimitiades and the analytic notes on each work by the conductor, Nikos Christodoulos.
-- Peter Grahame Woolf, MusicWeb International
The Ouverture Concertante from the mid-1940s is in Skalkottas's most developed serial method, but there really is no need to bother about that. It is brilliant and exuberant, with solo winds, cello, timpani featured, and a group of four solo violins. A very exciting piece, and without studying the detailed notes by Nikos Christodoulos you'd never guess that there is a central point after which there is a retrograde 'mirror' recapitulation. It is an uncommonly exhilarating piece, only nine minutes long but full of event and culminating with a presto coda.
After that you'll be ready for the first of Skalkottas's piano concertos (one of nine surviving concertos). This dates back to 1931, when the composer was in his late twenties, during his period in the Schonberg circle. Schonberg apparently was displeased that Skalkottas used a group of thematically conceived tone rows instead of remaining true to orthodoxy. The concerto was left in Berlin after the composer returned to Athens, and only rediscovered after his death. It is a very winning work, full of life and colour and much more listener friendly than Schonberg's own piano concerto, which holds a tenuous place in the concert repertoire. Again, Skalkottas uses reversal in the imaginative recapitulation of his first movement. The next is expressive, dramatic, dark and unusually original. The finale is high spirited and dance-like, dispelling earlier tensions. Twenty-one minutes full of action!
Finally (that is firstly) is the major ballet suite of 1938 The Maiden and Death, an example of the tonal music which Skalkottas continued to compose alongside his serial compositions. It is picturesque, very atmospheric and with elements of Greek folk music, all blended into a personal style characterised by imaginative and vivid orchestration.
The performances and recording are splendid throughout and all this music demands to be heard and, who knows, brought into the concert repertoire, albeit belatedly. You may need a magnifying glass to help with the informative biographical notes by Jason Dimitiades and the analytic notes on each work by the conductor, Nikos Christodoulos.
-- Peter Grahame Woolf, MusicWeb International
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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.
***
Nikos Christodoulou (born 1959) is music director of the City of Athens Symphony Orchestra and Choir. He studied composition and the piano in Athens, before continuing his composition studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich, and conducting studies at the Royal College of Music in London. Christodoulou has composed orchestral, chamber and choral works, songs and incidental music. As a conductor, he regularly appears with the major Greek orchestras and the Greek National Opera. His series of recordings of symphonic music by Skalkottas for BIS has met with international critical acclaim.
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ReplyDeleteThnaks for all this Skalkottas ! Despite the relative fairness of musical history regarding the recognition of composers, for Skalkottas there is a great injustice
ReplyDeletethank you very much !
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