The Music of Nikos Skalkottas

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From Skalkottas's earliest works, a personal idiom was clearly in evidence, combining European modernism with the rhythmic dynamism of Greek traditional music, and characterised by a tensile... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Release Date: 1st Feb 1998
Catalogue No: BISCD904
Label: BIS
Length: 77 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Skalkottas: Violin Concerto, AK 22

Work length33:02

$5.10

$7.60

Georgios Demertzis
Malmö Symphony Orchestra
Nikos Christodoulou

I. Molto appassionato

Track length12:55

$2.05

$3.05

II. Andante con spirito

Track length13:29

$2.05

$3.05

III. Allegro vivo viacissimo - Prestissimo

Track length6:38

$1.00

$1.50

Skalkottas: Suite No. 2, AK 4

Work length26:45

Album only

Malmö Symphony Orchestra
Nikos Christodoulou

Largo Sinfonico

Track length26:45

Album only

Skalkottas: 36 Greek Dances, AK 11, Series 1

Work length18:11

$7.00

$10.50

Malmö Symphony Orchestra
Nikos Christodoulou

Epirotikos (Moderato)

Track length1:55

$1.00

$1.50

Kretikos (Allegretto moderato)

Track length1:38

$1.00

$1.50

Tsamikos (Allegro moderato)

Track length2:17

$1.00

$1.50

Thessalikos (Allegro vivace)

Track length1:21

$1.00

$1.50

Mariori mou - Mariori mou (Moderato assai e molto espressivo)

Track length4:52

$1.00

$1.50

Arkadikos (Moderato)

Track length3:37

$1.00

$1.50

Kleftikos (Allegro vivo)

Track length2:31

$1.00

$1.50

Reviews
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Reviews

2010

From Skalkottas's earliest works, a personal idiom was clearly in evidence, combining European modernism with the rhythmic dynamism of Greek traditional music, and characterised by a tensile strength and translucency of sound.
Like Bartók, Skalkottas wrote 'popular' music without compromise. The Greek Dances are ideal encore pieces, not least in these suave arrangements for strings.
The Violin Concerto of 1937 is among his major works, with a solo part that's demanding yet integral to the symphonic nature of the score – something that Georgios Demertzis's vital account readily conveys here. The close of the Andante possesses true lyrical repose, before the finale provides fireworks as well as clinching the musical design.
The Largo Sinfonico, completed in 1944, embodies some of Skalkottas's most personal music; a seamless fusion of variation and sonata forms, it's as satisfying formally as it is emotionally.
Nikos Christodoulou's accompanying notes speak of a private musical universe, yet the plangency of the cello theme and the remorseless tread of the central climaxes betray an unease that must surely be inseparable from the time of composition.
The final bars, with the thematic material recast as a series of unearthly chords, feel as much a stoic acceptance of reality as they are a 'harmony of the spheres'. With the Malmö orchestra fully attuned to the idiom, Christodoulou's powerfully shaped reading makes for a compelling experience.

The Music of Nikos Skalkottas

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