Organised Delirium is pianist Tamara Stefanovich‘ personal exploration of the sonata form, centered around Boulez’ Piano Sonata No. 2 which she studied in close collaboration with the composer, reigniting her passion as a performer. Boulez’ Piano Sonata No. 2 represents a restructuring of music after its destruction during World War II.

Boulez’ iconoclast piece is paired with twentieth-century sonatas by Eisler, Bartók and Shostakovich, each questioning the use of the term ‘sonata’, while the program closes with a return the sonata’s origins by way of Domenico Scarlatti. Appearing in the context of Boulez’ centenary, this adventurous album reveals a strong kinship to Stefanovich’ PENTATONE debut Influences (2019), and deepens our understanding of the sonata, its history and its many shapes.

The New York Times lauded Tamara’s recent concert performance of Boulez’ Piano Sonata No. 2, stating that “Ms. Stefanovich’s performance was staggeringly brilliant”. Praised by The Guardian as “fearless, dazzling, exceptional”, Tamara Stefanovich is one of today’s most adventurous and sought after pianists. After Influences (2019), Visions (2022) and Nicolaou: Etudes & Frames (2023), she now releases her fourth Pentatone album.

Tamara Stefanovich, Piano

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Bartók is also a dreamer of reality: he takes his listeners into a trance-like state, pushing the limits of the human nervous system to a kind of self-analysis, a psychological abyss. The extreme colours and almost hallucinogenic chords of his music go beyond the art of the French Impressionists. His use of form draws deeply from the classical style, while his voicing recalls the influence of the baroque, most notably Bach.

Bartók’s unique musical world, illuminated by the lantern of a genius, can perhaps be said without exaggeration to be a musical mediation of the constant re-creation of the world. This music captivates the listener again and again.

Márta Ábrahám, Mustang violin (manufactured by Bence Holló)
László Borbély, Steinway Model D Concert Grand Piano, Hamburg

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Today, Miklós Rózsa is best known for classic film scores like Ben-Hur and Lust for Life. Living in America, yet yearning for his native Hungary, Rózsa took a momentary step away from Hollywood to write a violin concerto that sings, dances and positively smoulders. This rare performance of his Violin Concerto shows that even without the pictures, his music can hold an audience spellbound.

Taking center stage for this recording is London Symphony Orchestra Leader, Roman Simovic, who joined the Orchestra in 2010. His virtuosity and musicality have taken him throughout all continents, performing as soloist with world-leading orchestras and conductors.

“It is fiery; it is passionate—it is Tchaikovsky on steroids. And you could not have asked for a better advocate than Roman Simovic throughout the entire concerto. The work very much suits his Ukrainian temperament and his mastery of the concerto’s technical challenges was exceptional. I cannot recall being so mesmerised by a performance for a very long time.” – Seen and Heard International

“There were no downsides to the LSO casting its leader Roman Simovic as soloist in Miklós Rózsa’s Violin Concerto.” – The Strad

The accompanying work on this album is by Rózsa’s fellow Hungarian, Béla Bartók, whose passionate Violin Concerto No. 2 was known simply as his Violin Concerto throughout his life. His other concerto, written two decades earlier, was only published after the composer’s death.

The London Symphony Orchestra frequently invites its members into the solo spotlight, and this album joins the ranks of other widely lauded recordings by principal players of the LSO, including Mozart’s Oboe, Clarinet and Horn Concertos, Stravinsky’s Ebony Concerto, and Paganini’s 24 Caprices.

Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor
Kevin John Edusei, Conductor
Roman Simovic, Violin
London Symphony Orchestra

*Rózsa was recorded live in DSD 256 while Bartók was recorded live in 24bit 96kHz PCM.

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Although Bartók’s Mikrokosmos series of more than one hundred and fifty smaller and larger works was originally written with a pedagogical purpose – for no other reason than to support his own son Peter’s piano studies – it is the essence of his music, and anyone who wishes to study Bartók’s oeuvre in the depth it deserves should begin with these works, since they offer the inexhaustible inexhaustibility of Bartók’s inspiration. In this program, which provides a coherent link between the works of Bartók and Ligeti, we will hear twelve movements of Mikrokosmos.

György Ligeti’s Études are of a difficulty that is a challenge to the human spirit, and are comparable in virtuosity to (concert) etudes by the great romantic composers (and often exceed them in difficulty). Ligeti cites Chopin and Liszt as his main sources of inspiration, as well as a number of Far Eastern influences (such as gamelan music) and African tribal music, and the music and art of Conlon Nancarrow and Thelonious Monk. He particularly emphasises the experience of touch and the ‘moment of danger’ experienced by the performer. Eight of Ligeti’s three-volume series of Études are heard in this programme, in which the author is represented not only by the Études but also by the early Musica Ricercata, with four pieces from the cycle; the Hungarian-influenced No. 5 (Lamentoso), the Balkan folk music No. 8 (Vivace), the 9th (Béla Bartók in memoriam) and the 11th (Omaggio a Girolamo Frescobaldi), which pays tribute to the Italian Baroque master Girolamo Frescobaldi.

László Borbély, Piano

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In my decades of teaching, I have had the privilege of teaching a remarkable number of exceptional talents. Students with a wide range of abilities have taught me how to communicate my message in a variety of ways to achieve results. It is a rare gift in the life of a teacher to be able to touch the spiritual development of another person entrusted to her care, to gain their trust and to help them through difficult moments in their lives. She can give something that others may lack. Not to mention the survival, decades later, of a human relationship which is assumed to have been and remains of significance not only for the teacher, but also for each other.

I taught János Kovács between 1964 and 68 when I was a young teacher and László Borbély from 1998-2002. Music was and is the most important part of both of their lives. János studied composition and piano as first studies at the beginning of his course. Today, as is well known, he is an internationally renowned conductor.

Despite his young age, László has appeared on major stages around the world as a pianist. Even in their adolescence, which I was privileged to witness, they took it as a challenge to learn the most difficult masterpieces, and it became a natural requirement for them to perform them on the podium. It is a special opportunity to be part of their professional collaboration, in which they understand each other almost without words, thinking together.

I can only assume that I have done something right during their years of study, because a spirit of mutual interest, mutual trust, taste and demand permeates their collaboration. The recording of Bartók’s three piano concertos – of which I was present at the recording of the first concerto – gives them the opportunity to unravel the deep mysteries of the world of Bartók together. The Savaria Symphony Orchestra was an excellent, professional partner in their work.

László Borbély, Piano
Savaria Symphony Orchestra
János Kovács, Conductor

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Béla Bartók’s decision to write pedagogical pieces continued a tradition established by great composers. Such as Johann Sebastian Bach’s Inventions and Sinfonias, originally composed for his eldest son, and Robert Schumann’s Album for the Young, Op. 68, written for his three daughters.

In 1908, Bartók composed the first of his instructional works, Ten Easy Pieces for Piano, followed by For Children between 1908 and 1909. He also contributed teaching pieces for the Piano School (Zongoraiskola, 1913, co-authored with Sándor Reschofsky). His last pedagogical work for piano was Mikrokosmos, written between 1926 and 1939.

The pieces in For Children are true miniature masterpieces. The simplicity and beauty of the folk tunes are captivating. Despite this, they are not commonly part of the piano concert repertoire.

While some of the arrangements are frequently used in elementary music schools in Hungary, the complete volumes are rarely performed on stage. I have worked with these pieces for several years, and they have become a significant part of my repertoire.

My performances and this recording reflect the revised 1943 version by Bartók, edited by László Vikárius and published by Editio Musica Budapest/G. Henle Verlag. For a few pieces (Nos. 15, 18, 21 and 26), I have closely followed Bartók’s own recordings.

Dávid Báll – Steinway Model D Concert Grand Piano, Hamburg

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It is one thing to return to the country of one’s childhood and feel so much at home. It’s another to be able to record there the music which, over the years, has become a symbol of a lost and cherished childhood.

In 2023 I undertook a return trip to Hungary with my daughter; I wanted her to see the land of her mother’s early childhood, as well as that of her forebears. It was a deeply moving experience as I re-discovered my roots, my strong connection with this land and its traditions and culture. In late 1957 my parents and I emigrated to Australia. This was a move to which I could not reconcile myself for a long time: those first years of life immersed in Hungarian culture and music in particular were so rich, so sustaining, and I had lost these.

Steeped in Hungarian folksong and classical music as I had been, it was hard to get my bearings in a new/old land. Eventually, I became a pianist with a career that began in my teenage years at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music during which time I already performed as soloist, chamber musician and concerto soloist with orchestras. With scholarships, I ended up for many years in the UK, at first studying at the Royal College of Music and then going on to study with Louis Kentner, Albert Ferber and others in the UK, Austria and Switzerland. My performing career involved many appearances at festivals, music societies, solo and chamber recitals on the South Bank, the Wigmore Hall and other venues. In the 1980’s I recorded extensively as a soloist for the BBC. Returning to Australia in the late 80’s, these activities continued with concerts and recordings for the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) and teaching, adjudicating, accompanying and coaching young musicians.

‘For Children’ is a product of Bartók’s extensive early collecting of folk songs and the new direction to which they led him musically, whereas Mikrokosmos displays the extraordinary assimilation of folk song elements within his mature musical vocabulary. ‘For Children’ (composed originally in 1908/9) consists of the songs more or less in their original form but with the most imaginative and sympathetic harmonisation possible.

The composition of ‘Mikrokosmos’, on the other hand, was a much later venture for Bartók (1927 to 1939). Originally commenced as a piano ‘tutor’ (books 1 and 2) for his son, Péter, it eventually grew into an exhaustive lexicon of diverse technical and musical elements with some truly inspired material, providing a comprehensive training for students of the piano and musicians generally. The culmination was Volume 6, in which his inventiveness took a decidedly virtuoso turn; indeed, the last 6 pieces – Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm – were dedicated to the English concert pianist, Harriet Cohen.

To be able to record these in Hungary with Hunnia Records is the fulfilment of a dream and I do hope it will be of interest to listeners to hear how a Hungarian can still remain a Hungarian in spite of years living elsewhere.

Julie Adam, Piano

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Songs We Like (Deluxe Edition) is a Pure DSD 256 recording that is Exclusively Available in Stereo Pure DSD 512, DSD 256, DSD 128 and DSD 64 from NativeDSD.

The trio’s favorites include Living In The Past by Jethro Tull, Catch A Star by Men At Work, If 6 Was 9 by Jimi Hendrix, Ten Years Gone and What Is And What Should Never Be by Led Zeppelin, King Of The World by Steely Dan, Spirits In The Material World by Sting plus Evening In The Country by Bela Bartok and Passacaglia by Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer.

The Deluxe Edition adds 2 tracks to the original – Four Sticks by Led Zeppelin and The Wind Cries Mary by Jimi Hendrix.

The album exactly what it claims to be. It is a collection of songs (or “pieces”) that have a unique influence on Hazelrigg Brothers’ history and musicality. While each of these compositions has remained a relevant part of the musical landscape, the Brothers’ perspective has changed.

Culture evolves, but the melodies remain the same. With Songs We Like, Hazelrigg Brothers have accepted the challenge of translating these works into something congruent with their current ideals and lifestyles.

Hazelrigg Brothers
George Hazelrigg, Piano
Geoff Hazelrigg, Bass
John O’ Reilly, Jr, Drums

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New Worlds features pianist Javier Laso in a Pure DSD 256 recording.  He takes a marvelous voyage through four apparently unrelated worlds. Each of them cultivated a new musical landscape in a new century. Javier Laso gives spellbinding performances that sound fresh, as if heard for the first time.

From Lisztian-Wagnerian Berg’s Sonata op. 1 to Mompou’s Variations on a Theme of Chopin, going through folk-inspired Falla’s Fantasía Baetica and Bartók’s Sonata, 

Javier Laso, Piano

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Pentatone 2023: NativeDSD Highlights is a compilation containing music from the most sought after Pentatone downloads at NativeDSD during 2023.

With music from their Native DSD Albums of the Year – Bartók Concerto for Orchestra presented by Karina Canellakis and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Folk Songs from Magdalena Kožená, the Czech Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle.

As well as other gems on the label from Arabella Steinbacher, Holland Baroque and Chloe Chua, among others, the track list provides an insight into Pentatone’s diverse and impressive roster.

Track List

1. Concerto For Orchestra III Elegia Andante non troppo [PTC5187027]
Karina Canellakis, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra

2. Symphony No. 1 in D Major ‘Titan’ – II. Kraeftig bewegt doch nicht zu schnell [PTC5187043]
Czech Philharmonic, Semyon Bychkov

3. Schubert: Symphony in B Minor, D. 759 Unfinished – II. Andante con moto [PTC5187065]
Dresdner Philharmonie, Marek Janowski

4. Das Orgel-Büchlein: No. 19, Herr Gott, nun schleus den Himmel auf, BWV 617 [PTC5187069]
Holland Baroque

5. Water Music Suite No 2 HWV 349 III Minuet [PTC5187013]
B’Rock Orchestra, Dmitry Sinkovsky

6. Bach Concerto for two violins and strings in d 1043, mvt 2, Largo ma non tanto [PTC5187017]
Arabella Steinbacher, Christoph Koncz, Peter von Wienhardt, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester

7. The Four Seasons, Concerto No. 1 in E Major, RV 269 “Spring” – III. Allegro pastorale [PTC5187062]
Chan Yoong-Han, Chloe Chua, Singapore Symphony Orchestra

8. Rhapsody In Blue – I. Molto moderato [PTC5187046]
Calefax Reed Quintet

9. 5 Canciones negras – No. 4, Cancion de cuna para dormir a un negrito [PTC5187075]
Czech Philharmonic, Magdalena Kozena, Sir Simon Rattle

10. Act II: Gitter Ground at Dance – Often she visits [PTC5187032]
David Bates, Fleur Barron, Giulia Semenzato, La Nuova Musica, Matthew Brook, Nicky Spence, Tim Mead

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