Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra Marin Alsop & Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

• 1 I. Introduzione: Andante non troppo - Allegro vivace 09:52
• 2 II. Giuoco delle coppie: Allegretto scherzando 06:39
• 3 III. Elegia: Andante non troppo 07:31
• 4 IV. Intermezzo interrotto: Allegretto 04:17
• 5 V. Finale: Presto 09:32
• 6 I. Andante tranquillo 07:07
• 7 II. Allegro 07:36
• 8 III. Adagio 07:34
• 9 IV. Allegro molto 06:52
• Total Runtime 01:07:00

Info for Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra

Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, one of his greatest works, was written in the United States after the composer was forced to flee Hungary during World War II. It is not only a brilliant display vehicle for each instrumental section but a work of considerable structural ingenuity that unites classical forms and sonorities with the pungency of folk rhythms and harmonies. Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta explores darker moods through a score of marvellously poised symmetry.

Marin Alsop‘s new recording with her Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is a cracker. There are two works on the all-Bartok disc, both display pieces: the Concerto for Orchestra and the Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste. Alsop's strength is her honesty, by which I mean something precise. Her different recordings, with the RSNO, Bournemouth Symphony and her Brahms Symphonies with the London Phil have been characterised by a consistent feature: she plays it straight and never goes for a quick fix. Some people find her a bit four-square in interpretation. I think it's a strength that pays lasting dividends. In the Concerto for Orchestra she minimises display: the atmospherics shimmer without show, the electric rhythms grip without flamboyance and, in the brass fugal passage in the first movement, the BSO strings come pouring in with overwhelming effect. The Game Of Pairs is wit incarnate, and Alsop understates the parody in the Shostakovich quote: she does not caricature it. Recommended. (Michael Tumelty)

Marin Alsop, conductor
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Recorded at Meyerhoff Hall, Baltimore 2009-2010

Marin Alsop - Conductor
Hailed as one of the world’s leading conductors for her artistic vision and commitment to accessibility in classical music, Marin Alsop made history with her appointment as the twelfth music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. With her inaugural concerts in September 2007, she became the first woman to head a major American orchestra. She also holds the title of conductor emeritus at the Bournemouth Symphony in the United Kingdom, where she served as the principal conductor from 2002-2008, and is music director of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in California. Her most recent appointment as principal conductor of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (OSESP), starting in 2012, marks another historic appointment for her. In 2005, Marin Alsop was named a MacArthur Fellow, the first conductor ever to receive this prestigious award. In 2007 she was honoured with a European Women of Achievement Award, in 2008 she was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 2009 Musical America named her Conductor of the Year. In November 2010 she was inducted into the Classical Music Hall of Fame. Marin Alsop is a frequent guest conductor with the most distinguished orchestras around the world, including the New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Concertbegouw Orchestra, the Orchestra of La Scala, the Tonhalle Orchestra and many others. In addition to her performance activities, she is an active recording artist with award-winning cycles of Brahms, Barber and Dvořák.

Marin Alsop was named a MacArthur Fellow, the first conductor ever to receive this prestigious award.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
is internationally recognized as having achieved a preeminent place among the world’s most important orchestras. Acclaimed for its pursuit of artistic excellence, the BSO has attracted a devoted national and international following while maintaining deep bonds throughout Maryland with innovative education and community outreach initiatives. The BSO made musical history in September 2007, when Marin Alsop led her inaugural concerts as the Orchestra’s twelfth music director, making her the first woman to head a major American orchestra. The BSO has achieved critical acclaim for its recording albums. In August 2009 the orchestra and Marin Alsop released Bernstein’s Mass, which rose to number six on the Classical Billboard Charts and received a 2009 GRAMMY® nomination for Best Classical Album. For more than eighty years, the BSO has maintained a vibrant educational presence throughout Maryland. The 2012-2013 season marks the fifth year of OrchKids, a year-round program that provides music education to Baltimore’s neediest youngsters at no cost. In addition to the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where the orchestra has performed for 29 years, the BSO is a founding partner and the resident orchestra at the Music Center at Strathmore, just outside of Washington, D.C. With its opening in February 2005, the BSO became the nation’s only major orchestra with year-round venues in two metropolitan areas.

Booklet for Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra