Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967)
Háry János Suite (1926-27)
Nyári este (Summer Evening) (1906, rev. 1929-30)
Symphony in C major (1930s-61)
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra/JoAnn Falletta
rec. 2022, Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, USA
Naxos 8.574556 [68]
This is JoAnn Falletta’s second recording for Naxos of music by Kodály and it is every bit as fine as the first one (review). The new disc is especially welcome, as it includes two works which deserve greater exposure than they have received. It also contains Kodály’s most popular orchestral piece, the Háry János Suite. There have been plenty of excellent accounts of this suite, particularly by such Hungarian conductors as István Kertész (Philips) and Iván Fischer (Decca). Falletta holds her own against those, even if none I have heard surpasses Kertész in this music, including his 1964 recorded sound.
The Buffalo Philharmonic plays very well throughout with no weak sections. They capture the character of the music particularly so in the lyrical parts. The third movement, “Song,” begins with lovely viola solo that I prefer to the one in the other two accounts. Clarinet and oboe are also superb. Falletta really evokes the atmosphere and stillness of this movement. The important cimbalom part is clearly heard as part of the orchestral texture and not as a solo instrument per se. This is similar to Fischer’s way where everything tends to be more blended than with the others, especially Kertész’s where all the solos really tell. One approach is not necessarily better than the other, while the latter’s wind soloists in the second movement, “Viennese Musical Clock,’’ are outstandingly virtuosic and unequaled elsewhere. The same goes for the horn swoops at the end of the work, which also contribute to Kertész’s recording that is so amazing after all these years. Nonetheless, Fischer with his generally faster tempos brings out all the excitement the score possesses and his disc also includes excerpts from the opera from which Kodály derived the suite. Falletta, on the other hand, along with an excellent Háry János Suite, provides the listener the opportunity to hear music of the composer that should be better known.
Summer Evening is an early work Kodály composed as his graduation exercise, then performed at a student concert in Budapest in 1906, according to Richard Whitehouse’s informative notes. It was not heard again until 1928 after Arturo Toscanini encouraged the composer to re-orchestrate it. An idyllic tone poem, Summer Evening is somewhat reminiscent of Vaughan Williams and Delius in its modal harmony. However, there is no mistaking Kodály as the composer due to the Hungarian flavour of the piece. The tone poem begins with a lovely, pensive English horn solo that returns in the work, but Kodály does not shortchange other winds, including flute and clarinet solos and substantial writing for the horns. While overall quiet and meditative, there is contrast where the music becomes lively and rhythmic with some force before concluding on English horn and strings. Summer Evening would make a fine addition to any orchestral concert and Falletta does it complete justice with her Buffalo orchestra.
For me, though, the primary reason to get this CD is the rarely performed Symphony in C major, a piece that Kodály worked on over a long period beginning in the 1930s and completing only in 1957. The composer dedicated it to Toscanini, who was thought to have “indirectly caused its completion,” as noted by Whitehouse. Unfortunately, Toscanini died before Kodály could finish the symphony and it did not receive its premiere until 1961.
The symphony is cast in three movements and is in some respects neo-classical, reminding me occasionally of Albert Roussel. It is an attractive and well-orchestrated work with memorable themes and characteristic of Kodály in its harmony and rhythms. The first movement, Allegro, begins with soft timpani strokes and the lower strings playing a dark, but animated folkish theme typical of the composer. The music builds to a brassy passage and has prominent parts for the horns, clarinet, and flute. There is much variety in tempo and character, and the movement concludes resoundingly on a short chord. The second movement, Andante moderato, provides a good contrast, commencing with a modal theme on horns and strings. The harmony is really lovely and the mood calming. Again the woodwinds are featured with an oboe solo that gives the music an Eastern flavour, but very Hungarian at the same time. There are also some whole-tone, Debussyan passages and a violin solo. The finale, marked Vivo, bursts forth with jazzy fanfares on the horns, followed by strings and woodwinds. This is joyous, exhilarating music, delivering numerous opportunities for the brass and winds. After sonorous timpani, there is a clarinet duet and subsequent bassoons before the horn fanfares return. The movement continues to intensify with the whole orchestra ending on three loud, Roussel-like chords. There is a lot that stays in the mind in this symphony I am surprised it so rarely programmed. I cannot imagine it being done better than Falletta and the orchestra perform it here.
I have been impressed by earlier discs of these artists, not only with the quality of the music-making, but also with the sound recorded in Kleinhans Hall. There is plenty of detail to be savoured and at the same time good, but not excessive reverberation. Another fine production from Naxos.
Leslie Wright
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