Béla Bartók (1881-1945)
Viola Concerto (1945)
44 Duos, excerpts (1931, arr. Peter Bartók for 2 violas, and viola and cello)
Paul Neubauer (viola)
Cynthia Phelps (2nd viola); Ronald Thomas (cello)
Hong Kong Philharmonic/David Atherton
rec. 2000, Hong Kong City Hall (concerto); 2001, Academy of Arts and letters, New York City (Duos)
First Hand Records FHR175 [63]
Having emigrated to America in 1940, taking citizenship five years later, Bartók latterly suffered from ill health and died in a New York hospital from complications with leukemia. Shockingly, his funeral was attended by only ten people. His last few works included his Sonata for solo violin, Concerto for Orchestra and Third Piano Concerto (99% complete). Sadly, his Viola Concerto was left in an unfinished state. Bartók’s close friend Tibor Serly made a version – “Prepared for publication from the composer’s original manuscript” in 1949. Some say he made an excellent job, while others suggest it was an impossible task. Bartók devotees (myself included) may be disappointed that the concerto – in the form in which it is left – does not reach the level of the compositions mentioned above, yet still treasure it for its unmistakeable Bartókian qualities. In spite of the fine concertos by Walton, Schnittke and others, it is the viola concerto which I as a viola-player value above all, simply because Bartók’s language speaks to me more powerfully. It’s nothing specifically to do with the viola-writing, though Bartók’s understanding of the instrument is profound.
Personal feelings aside, I rate this performance highly. Compared with the original Tibor Serly score, there are many differences in this 1995 “revised version” (the work of Nelson Dellamaggiore and Peter Bartók, edited by Paul Neubauer) – some omissions, such as the solo bassoon link between the first and second movements, a few altered pitches, octave displacements, etc. Neubauer writes in the booklet: “After studying the manuscript, I realised that the published version of the concerto that had been played since the premiere performance … was far from what Bartók intended.” This “far from” may be a slight exaggeration but I do feel that the revisions – in their attempts to achieve greater faithfulness to Bartók’s language and to those of his indications which are unequivocal – replace Serly’s version. One obvious example is the very beginning, where Bartók clearly asked for the viola to be accompanied by solo timpani. Why Serly chose to re-score this haunting opening, a little stroke of genius, for pizzicato lower strings, I cannot imagine. One other questionable detail is Serly’s metronome mark of crotchet = 69 for the slow movement. Bartók was very precise in his timings for movements of his compositions and his timing here indicates a slower tempo than Serly’s. Serly seems to have read Bartók’s “five minutes ten seconds” as three minutes ten seconds. Within the slower tempo Neubauer is most eloquent, the effect still and spacious. I believe that the criticisms of Tibor Serly’s work and the uncertainty surrounding the subsequent revisions have obscured the greatness of this concerto. Even if I am in a minority in holding this view, I am convinced that familiarity with the piece is essential to our appreciation of the composer’s late period. To take the very approximate comparison of another unfinished work, Mozart’s Requiem, I would ask whether we are better off in having an imperfect realisation of the composer’s intentions, or would we readily dispense with it? Surely we should be deeply grateful to have Mozart’s work in its less than perfect state, and the same applies to Bartók’s Viola Concerto.
Neubauer’s tone is not of the heavy, boomy kind, but more inclined towards a less unwieldy, lighter mellowness. I am struggling here to describe different kinds of viola tone, but I hope I am understood. Very roughly, one would place Neubauer more towards William Primrose (incidentally, the man who commissioned the Bartók Concerto) rather than Lionel Tertis. His performance is passionate (- listen to the middle section of the Adagio religioso), intensely committed and powerful, while the contributions of Atherton and the Hong Kong Philharmonic are admirable. This performance should persuade many listeners that the concerto is a greater work than they previously thought.
Bartók composed 44 Duos for two violins, of which only a handful are omitted here. Most of the duos are between one minute and two minutes’ duration. The majority are characterised by a charming simplicity, while generally they show Bartók’s mastery of the miniature form, equally evident in the numerous pieces of Mikrokosmos. I prefer to hear them, as Bartók intended, played by two violins, but one cannot complain when the artistry and musicianship of Neubauer, Melissa Phelps and Ronald Thomas are combined.
Philip Borg-Wheeler
Buying this recording via a link below generates revenue for MWI, which helps the site remain free
