Skalkottas: Orchestral Works Athens Philharmonia Orchestra & Byron Fidetzis

• Nikos Skalkottas (1904 - 1949): Sinfonietta in B-Flat Major, AK 10 (Ed. Y. Samprovalakis):
• 1 Sinfonietta in B-Flat Major, AK 10 (Ed. Y. Samprovalakis): I. Andante sostenuto - Allegro 06:53
• 2 Sinfonietta in B-Flat Major, AK 10 (Ed. Y. Samprovalakis): II. Andantino triste 06:36
• 3 Sinfonietta in B-Flat Major, AK 10 (Ed. Y. Samprovalakis): III. Scherzino. Molto vivace 05:13
• 4 Sinfonietta in B-Flat Major, AK 10 (Ed. Y. Samprovalakis): IV. Finale. Vivacissimo 07:05
• Concerto for Violin, Piano & Orchestra, AK 21 (Orch. Y. Samprovalakis):
• 5 Concerto for Violin, Piano & Orchestra, AK 21 (Orch. Y. Samprovalakis): I. Allegro giusto 03:19
• 6 Concerto for Violin, Piano & Orchestra, AK 21 (Orch. Y. Samprovalakis): II. Andante sostenuto 03:11
• 7 Concerto for Violin, Piano & Orchestra, AK 21 (Orch. Y. Samprovalakis): III. Allegro vivo 00:56
• 8 Concerto for Violin, Piano & Orchestra, AK 21 (Orch. Y. Samprovalakis): IV. Andante sostenuto 00:41
• 9 Concerto for Violin, Piano & Orchestra, AK 21 (Orch. Y. Samprovalakis): V. Allegro 02:52
• Little Suite, AK 23 (Orch. Y. Samprovalakis):
• 10 Little Suite, AK 23 (Orch. Y. Samprovalakis): I. Allegro moderato 01:20
• 11 Little Suite, AK 23 (Orch. Y. Samprovalakis): II. Moderato maestoso 02:04
• 12 Little Suite, AK 23 (Orch. Y. Samprovalakis): III. Allegretto vivace 01:43
• 13 Little Suite, AK 23 (Orch. Y. Samprovalakis): IV. Andante sostenuto 03:06
• Nikos Skalkottas:
• 14 Digenés in His Last Agony (Transcr. N. Skalkottas) [Orch. Y. Samprovalakis] 02:26
• 15 Ancient Greek March, AK 11d 02:15
• 16 March in D Major 01:19
• 17 The Vlach Woman (Orch. N. Skalkottas) [Ed. Y. Samprovalakis] 01:17
• 18 The Maypole (Orch. N. Skalkottas) [Ed. Y. Samprovalakis] 01:28
• 19 Mount Pelion Dance (Orch. N. Skalkottas) [Ed. Y. Samprovalakis] 01:36
• 20 High up on Kostilata (Orch. N. Skalkottas) [Ed. Y. Samprovalakis] 01:27
• 21 Corfiot Dance (Orch. N. Skalkottas) [Ed. Y. Samprovalakis] 01:13
• 22 Up the street (Orch. N. Skalkottas) [Ed. Y. Samprovalakis] 00:57
• 23 Lioúlios (Orch. N. Skalkottas) [Ed. Y. Samprovalakis] 05:38
• 24 Paraskevoúla (Orch. N. Skalkottas) [Ed. Y. Samprovalakis] 02:20
• 25 Physoúni (Orch. N. Skalkottas) [Ed. Y. Samprovalakis] 01:48
• Total Runtime 01:08:43

Info for Skalkottas: Orchestral Works

This programme of previously unrecorded works illustrates a highly distinctive aspect of Nikos Skalkottas as a composer: The ‘neoclassical’ Skalkottas goes hand in hand with the ‘national’ and the ‘modernist’ composer, the common denominators being perfect architecture of form, harmonic refinement and skillful orchestration. The opening Sinfonietta in B flat major is a typical example of the composer’s ‘neoclassical’ side. In four movements and with a duration of 25 minutes, it was written in 1948, during Skalkottas’s final years. It is followed by the Suite for Violin and Chamber Orchestra and the Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra, examples of the composer’s atonal idiom. Both works were among the many that disappeared after the composer left Berlin in 1933. The remaining pieces demonstrate Skalkottas’s involvement with the project of exploring the traditional music of Greece. The Cretan folk song Digenés in his Last Agony was transcribed and harmonized by Skalkottas – for this release a recording from 1930 of the voice of Eleftherios Venizelos, the Greek Prime Minister at the time, has been superimposed over the newly recorded orchestral accompaniment. The two marches are original compositions, but follow Greek models, while the Nine Greek Dances are Skalkottas’s orchestrations of published folk songs. Simple and functional, they are in no way reminiscent of his great work, the 36 Greek Dances for large orchestra, but still reveal the composer’s refined aesthetic approach. In a labor of love, the music is performed by conductor Byron Fidetzis and violinist Georgios Demertzis, who have both made important contributions to the Skalkottas discography, as well as pianist Vassilis Varvaresos and the Athens Philharmonia Orchestra, making their first appearance on BIS.

Athens Philharmonia Orchestra
Byron Fidetzis, conductor

No biography found.

Booklet for Skalkottas: Orchestral Works