Wonderful! To be compared with Ginette Neveu's performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto, Long Live Tabea Zimmermann's performance of the Bela Bartok Viola Concerto.
Since this Concerto was left unfinished by Bartok, you should have mentioned that this is a performance of a 1995 completion by Nelson Dellamagiore rather than the far better standard completion by Bartok's friend Tibor Serly.
Sorry, but your dogmatic and opinionated comment cannot be allowed to pass by without reply and rebuttal... First of all, that the Serly completion is "far better" is very subjective. The notes to the Dellamaggiore version of the solo part, as edited by the violist Paul Nebauer who gave the world premiere of the Revised Version, asserts that it reproduces more exactly the solo part as written by Bartok, excising some of the amendations by Serly. So you are pitting editors against each other, and one ediitor / completionist against the composer. Not wise, methinks.^^ Now for some background information to justify this admittedly combative message---> Tomorrow (that is, Thursday, May 2nd, 2024), i will have to record the opening c. 4 minutes of the solo viola part (albeit unaccompanied) of the 1st movement of this concerto as part of the audition process for continued / increased participation in the local symphony orchestra in a medium-sized city in western Canada. Thus, a world-beater musician i am not. Hehe. However, i do have enough musical knowledge to be able to read a part or score (methinks), so it is clear that this performance by Zimmermann et al is NOT exclusively of the Dellamaggiore AND Peter Bartok (a curious omission on your part, BTW, not including the composer's son's name...^^) completion! There are definitely places where Zimmerman reverts to using the Serly version of the solo part.~ I have studied both the Serly version and the N.M. / P.B. completion, albeit not in an encyclopaedic fashion--- used the Serly version for an audition, not a public performance, as far back as April of 2017, in Salaya, Greater Bangkok, Thailand / will use the Dellamaggiore + P. Bartok version tomorrow [albeit with a judicious amount of "Serly-isms"^^]. Also, more recently i used the viola and piano reduction of my VERY expensive ($80.25 Canadian--ouch!) Boosey and Hawkes edition to follow along to YT recordings by both Timothy Ridout (Serly, helpfully with score) and here with Zimmermann. A non-comprehensive list of specific details is as follows: 1. In the Dellamaggiore version, the first 13 measures of the work consist of a duo between the soloist and the timpani, the latter first entering in measure two. The Serly score as executed by Ridout et al, by contrast, has the orchestral entry in measure two in the bassoons. Here, seemingly, Zimmermann and the Spanish orchestrs, supposedly performing the N.M. version, do neither! At least, if the timpanist actually enters, well, i could neither see nor hear him...! The solo violist here also changes bow more frequently than as printed in either versions of the solo part. 2. Measure (m.) 10, N.M., the sixth sixteenth note of the bar is a striking E-natural, albeit in parentheses, after 5 measures reiterating E-flats. Serly perists with E-flat, Zimmermann here does likewise. 3. N.M., m. 25 and 26, the violist plays an F# at the end of 25, an F-natural in 26. Serly and Zimmermann persist with F# in m.26 4. Out of the blue, as it were, N.M. puts the first four 16th notes of m. 39 in the solo viola in octaves. Neither Serly nor Zimmermann do this. 5. N.B., measures 102~106, has considerable alteration of some of the solo viola arpeggiated passage-work vis-a-vis Serly. Zimmerman maintains the notes of the N.M. but introduces bowings that differ from BOTH Serly AND N.M. 6. N.M., the solo viola in m.117 is an octave higher for the first two beats. I honestly could not tell whether Ms. Violist follows Serly or N.M. here. 7. The biggest change--> at the end of the Parlando (Ritornello) transition between movt. one and movt. two, N.M. is much more abrupt. He deletes from Serly two eighth-notes and a whole note in the solo viola, and also eliminates a bridge passage in the bassoon(s), while finishing with a stark measure for horns in octaves. Zimmermann and the conductor follow Serly throughout... Okay, that's enough; i do not wish to submit a musicological treatise!^^ Anyway, i hope this is more than enough to convince you that Ms. Zimmermann et al in this recording perform a version of this concerto that comingles aspects of both Serly and N.M. / P.B., and her own interpretive genius. Incidentally, both Ridout and Zimmermann are somewhat slower and flexible, almost ad libitum, in tempo in the first movement, and the duration of their performances of the complete work is somewhat longer than the 20'30 (Serly) / 20:25 (N.M.+P.B.) suggested in the respective scores. This Zimmermann recording exceeds 23 minutes, albeit there is some applause, while Ridout takes over 24 minutes. Chew on this for a while, eh-?!^^
@@francoxp64 Thank you for your concern, but i was so discombobulated last Thursday that i was unable to complete and submit even one of the required four pre-audition recordings (two each for violin and viola). A major catastrophe!^^
@@ColinWrubleski-eq5sh OH, sorry to hear that I have an audition in 2 weeks for the child/youth simphonic national orchestra but Im sooo stressed and nervous, I have to playa some parts of La gazza ladra by Rossini and some parts of the Easter ouverture by Rimsky Korsakov, so we'll see... 😅 Greetings from Mexico!
Meraviglioso strumento la viola!! Non si direbbe , ma queste mani la fanno parlare, languire ed esultare! 🤩🤩🤩
Très belle interprétation de ce concerto déroutant de Bartok composé en partie par lui à la fin de sa vie .aux U.S.A .
Wonderful! To be compared with Ginette Neveu's performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto, Long Live Tabea Zimmermann's performance of the Bela Bartok Viola Concerto.
csodálatos előadás, de halk.😃
The correct tempo markings for this completion are: 1)Allegro Moderato, 2) Lento, 3)Allegretto - Allegro Molto
Since this Concerto was left unfinished by Bartok, you should have mentioned that this is a performance of a 1995 completion by Nelson Dellamagiore rather than the far better standard completion by Bartok's friend Tibor Serly.
Sorry, but your dogmatic and opinionated comment cannot be allowed to pass by without reply and rebuttal... First of all, that the Serly completion is "far better" is very subjective. The notes to the Dellamaggiore version of the solo part, as edited by the violist Paul Nebauer who gave the world premiere of the Revised Version, asserts that it reproduces more exactly the solo part as written by Bartok, excising some of the amendations by Serly. So you are pitting editors against each other, and one ediitor / completionist against the composer. Not wise, methinks.^^
Now for some background information to justify this admittedly combative message---> Tomorrow (that is, Thursday, May 2nd, 2024), i will have to record the opening c. 4 minutes of the solo viola part (albeit unaccompanied) of the 1st movement of this concerto as part of the audition process for continued / increased participation in the local symphony orchestra in a medium-sized city in western Canada. Thus, a world-beater musician i am not. Hehe. However, i do have enough musical knowledge to be able to read a part or score (methinks), so it is clear that this performance by Zimmermann et al is NOT exclusively of the Dellamaggiore AND Peter Bartok (a curious omission on your part, BTW, not including the composer's son's name...^^) completion! There are definitely places where Zimmerman reverts to using the Serly version of the solo part.~
I have studied both the Serly version and the N.M. / P.B. completion, albeit not in an encyclopaedic fashion--- used the Serly version for an audition, not a public performance, as far back as April of 2017, in Salaya, Greater Bangkok, Thailand / will use the Dellamaggiore + P. Bartok version tomorrow [albeit with a judicious amount of "Serly-isms"^^]. Also, more recently i used the viola and piano reduction of my VERY expensive ($80.25 Canadian--ouch!) Boosey and Hawkes edition to follow along to YT recordings by both Timothy Ridout (Serly, helpfully with score) and here with Zimmermann. A non-comprehensive list of specific details is as follows:
1. In the Dellamaggiore version, the first 13 measures of the work consist of a duo between the soloist and the timpani, the latter first entering in measure two. The Serly score as executed by Ridout et al, by contrast, has the orchestral entry in measure two in the bassoons. Here, seemingly, Zimmermann and the Spanish orchestrs, supposedly performing the N.M. version, do neither! At least, if the timpanist actually enters, well, i could neither see nor hear him...! The solo violist here also changes bow more frequently than as printed in either versions of the solo part.
2. Measure (m.) 10, N.M., the sixth sixteenth note of the bar is a striking E-natural, albeit in parentheses, after 5 measures reiterating E-flats. Serly perists with E-flat, Zimmermann here does likewise.
3. N.M., m. 25 and 26, the violist plays an F# at the end of 25, an F-natural in 26. Serly and Zimmermann persist with F# in m.26
4. Out of the blue, as it were, N.M. puts the first four 16th notes of m. 39 in the solo viola in octaves. Neither Serly nor Zimmermann do this.
5. N.B., measures 102~106, has considerable alteration of some of the solo viola arpeggiated passage-work vis-a-vis Serly. Zimmerman maintains the notes of the N.M. but introduces bowings that differ from BOTH Serly AND N.M.
6. N.M., the solo viola in m.117 is an octave higher for the first two beats. I honestly could not tell whether Ms. Violist follows Serly or N.M. here.
7. The biggest change--> at the end of the Parlando (Ritornello) transition between movt. one and movt. two, N.M. is much more abrupt. He deletes from Serly two eighth-notes and a whole note in the solo viola, and also eliminates a bridge passage in the bassoon(s), while finishing with a stark measure for horns in octaves. Zimmermann and the conductor follow Serly throughout...
Okay, that's enough; i do not wish to submit a musicological treatise!^^ Anyway, i hope this is more than enough to convince you that Ms. Zimmermann et al in this recording perform a version of this concerto that comingles aspects of both Serly and N.M. / P.B., and her own interpretive genius.
Incidentally, both Ridout and Zimmermann are somewhat slower and flexible, almost ad libitum, in tempo in the first movement, and the duration of their performances of the complete work is somewhat longer than the 20'30 (Serly) / 20:25 (N.M.+P.B.) suggested in the respective scores. This Zimmermann recording exceeds 23 minutes, albeit there is some applause, while Ridout takes over 24 minutes.
Chew on this for a while, eh-?!^^
@@ColinWrubleski-eq5sh how did your audition go? Did you make it?
@@francoxp64 Thank you for your concern, but i was so discombobulated last Thursday that i was unable to complete and submit even one of the required four pre-audition recordings (two each for violin and viola). A major catastrophe!^^
@@ColinWrubleski-eq5sh OH, sorry to hear that
I have an audition in 2 weeks for the child/youth simphonic national orchestra but Im sooo stressed and nervous, I have to playa some parts of La gazza ladra by Rossini and some parts of the Easter ouverture by Rimsky Korsakov, so we'll see... 😅
Greetings from Mexico!
Башмет играл без нот!