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Saturday, August 8, 2020

Nikos Skalkottas - The Neoclassical Skalkottas (Stefanos Tsialis)


Information

Composer: Nikos Skalkottas
  • (01) Sinfonietta in B flat major, AK 10
  • (05) Classical Symphony, AK 9
  • (09) Four Images, AK 13
  • (13) Ancient Greek March, AK 11d

Athens State Orchestra
Stefanos Tsialis, conductor

Date: 2020
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.574154

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Review

The disc closely follows a recent BIS release, which Jonathan Woolf reviewed enthusiastically; it includes the Sinfonietta, also recorded here. I realise that I am not the only one to question the “neoclassical” tag attached to both discs, even if the works they present are light years away from the atonal or serial pieces which Skalkottas composed at some stages of his career. The Sinfonietta, a really fine work in a more readily accessible musical style, retains many of the composer’s characteristics. There is little difference between this performance and that on BIS, in which Byron Fidetzis conducts the Athens Philharmonia Orchestra. I find the present reading marginally crisper, lighter and on the whole livelier than its contender, but this may be due to the different acoustics.

The Classical Symphony, scored for wind orchestra, two harps and double basses, ought not to be compared with Prokofiev’s work of the same title; to begin with, the scoring differs. It is a substantial work in four movements, full of imaginative writing for winds, a medium that the composer was fond of. I see it as a marvellous concerto for wind orchestra, calling for the utmost resources of such an ensemble. (Interestingly, Skalkottas wrote a concerto for wind orchestra, which is lost so far. Also, the monumental Piano Concerto No. 3, one of his most uncompromising works, is scored for an ensemble of ten winds.) The Classical Symphony is a powerful achievement that deserves to be widely known. It has the musical substance and the remarkably deft handling of the orchestral forces. In a word, it is a great piece of music and a most welcome addition to Skalkottas’s discography.

The Four Images have been recorded before (review). The music comes from the dance suite The Land and the Sea of Greece (1948) for solo piano, composed for the pianist and music teacher Polyxene Mathéy. The last two movements were the model for the folk ballet The Sea. The remaining four were reworked for symphony orchestra as Four Images. This beautifully scored and colourful piece is a fine example of tonal, accessible style which Skalkottas adopted in the mid-1940s while again retaining his personality.

This generously filled disc concludes with a rarity. The Ancient Greek March is actually the opening movement of Two Marches and Nine Greek Dances which Skalkottas composed for the Lyceum Club of Greek Women. The nine dances are considerably simpler and more straightforward than those in the three big sets of Greek dances. The whole suite, on that recent BIS issue, is a most enjoyable find in its own right.

I thoroughly enjoyed these well-recorded, committed performances. Skalkottas was one of Greece’s greatest composers. Anyone interested in his achievements will want to investigate twenty BIS discs devoted to his music.

-- Hubert CulotMusicWeb International

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2020/May/Skalkottas_neoclassical_8574154.htm
https://www.artmusiclounge.wordpress.com/2020/02/04/tsialis-conducts-skalkottas/
https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.574154&languageid=EN
https://www.amazon.com/Neoclassical-Skalkottas-Athens-State-Orchestra/dp/B082JQ782M

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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.

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Stefanos Tsialis was born in Hermoupolis, Greece, in 1964. Following studies in Thessaloniki, Copenhagen and Vienna, he served inter alia as deputy artistic director and principal conductor of the Meiningen State Theatre (2005-09) and artistic director of the Gotha Thuringian Philharmonic Orchestra (2009-13). Tsialis has been chief conductor and artistic director of the Athens State Orchestra since May 2014, and in his six years in office has managed to increase audiences by more than 60 percent. In addition, Tsialis has worked with almost  90 orchestras in many EU countries and others.
https://www.stefanos-tsialis.de/

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6 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. The Mega links about Skalkottas are all gone, is there a chance for a re-upload? Thanks in advance!

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    1. I think all Skalkottas posts are available now.

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  3. Choose one link, copy and paste it to your browser's address bar, wait a few seconds (you may need to click 'Continue' first), then click 'Skip Ad' (or 'Get link').
    If you are asked to download or install anything, IGNORE, only download from file hosting site (mega.nz).
    If MEGA shows 'Bandwidth Limit Exceeded' message, try to create a free account.

    http://lyksoomu.com/zv54
    or
    https://uii.io/z9VjM
    or
    https://exe.io/5lWckD

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