Bart¿¿k, Ligeti, Veress, E¿¿tv¿¿s

by Nurit Stark

Overview

Violinist and violist Nurit Stark sustains interest here through nearly 80 minutes of solo music, an impressive feat in itself. She has rigorous intonational precision and a rich tone in the lower strings that are emphasized in Gyoergy Ligeti's Sonata for viola solo. However, what's even more interesting on this BIS release is the program, which traces several generations of influences, in all but one case flowing from teacher to student. (The exception is Peter Eoetvoes, whose early career was closely associated with Ligeti, although he was not actually his student.) The annotations also make the intriguing point that all these composers decided to leave Hungary at some point. The program is exceptionally well constructed, proceeding from a general theme -- the encounter between influences from modernism and those from Eastern European folk music -- to the specific takes of each composer as styles evolved and individual creativity was brought to bear. Most interesting, and hardly heard as often as it should be, is Eoetvoes' Adventures of the Dominant Seventh Chord, where the titular sonority never resolves to its tonic but is instead displaced in a variety of ways by tonalities from the work of folk music. It's a novel work, rigorous yet accessible to anyone. Bartok, his student Sandor Veress, and Ligeti all incorporate Baroque music into the mix, in different ways, as a stand-in for traditional tonality. The overall effect is that of a colloquy between a group of musicians with common interests, something challenging to pull off in the medium of a chamber recital. Stark succeeds brilliantly here. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	06/03/2022
Label:	Bis
UPC:	7318599924168
Rank:	10951

Tracks

1. Sonata for Solo Violin, Sz. 117~I. Tempo di ciaccona
2. Sonata for Solo Violin, Sz. 117~II. Fuga. Risoluto, non troppo vivo
3. Sonata for Solo Violin, Sz. 117~III. Melodia. Adagio
4. Sonata for Solo Violin, Sz. 117~IV. Presto
5. Sonata for Viola Solo~I. Hora Lung¿¿
6. Sonata for Viola Solo~II. Loop
7. Sonata for Viola Solo~III. Facsar
8. Sonata for Viola Solo~IV. Prestissimo con sordino
9. Sonata for Viola Solo~V. Lamento
10. Sonata for Viola Solo~VI. Chaconne chromatique
11. Sonata per violino solo~I. Allegro
12. Sonata per violino solo~II. Adagio
13. Sonata per violino solo~III. Allegro molto
14. Adventures of the Dominant Seventh Chord for solo violin

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Nurit Stark   Primary Artist,Viola,Violin

Technical Credits

Albert Nurnberger   Instrument Design
Gyoergy Ligeti   Composer
Robert Suff   Executive Producer
Jean-Pascal Vachon   Liner Note Translation
Alfred Leicht   Instrument Design
P. Guarneri Di Mantova   Instrument Design
Prosper Colas   Instrument Design
Sophie Krabbe   Photography
Andrew Barnett   Typesetting
Martin Nagorni   Engineer,Post Production Editor,Post Production Mix,Recording Producer,Producer
Andrey Tarkovsky   Cover Image
Sandor Veress   Composer
Giovanni Bietti   Liner Notes
Horst A. Scholz   Liner Note Translation
Bela Bartok   Composer
Peter Eoetvoes   Composer