Bartók: Violin Concerto No. 2, Sz 112

“Barnabás Kelemen takes the finger-crippling demands of the concerto in his stride, hoisting Bartok's soaring cantabile aloft at every opportunity, while ensuring that the music's often abrupt changes of mood make a startling impact.” Classic FM Magazine, May 2011 ****

“Not only does Kelemen possess all the necessary technical brilliance to master every aspect of of Bartok's fiendishly difficult writing but he also has an instinctive and idiomatic understanding of the musical language...Kocsis and the National Hungarian Philharmonic offer astonishingly vivid support to Kelemen's rollercoaster playing, bringing a raw incisive edge to the orchestra acccompaniment” BBC Music Magazine, June 2011 *****

“Kelemen lunges at both [Rhapsodies] like a man possessed: his bow knows no fear and his orchestral collaborators are with him all the way. An exceptional disc.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2011

“The raw immediacy of Yossif Ivanov's tone is the first thing to strike in this pairing of two of the mid-20th century's most pungent violin concertos. [In Shostakovich's Concerto No. 1], Ivanov's characterisation is edgy and intelligent through-out, his sound big and forthright.” The Independent on Sunday, 9th August 2009

“His recordings of Ysaye and Bartok make it clear: Laurent Korcia is an outstanding violinist. One of those whose passion and instinct just grab you from the very first bars. Just like those turn-of-the-century virtuosos, Elman, Heifetz, Ysaye or Kubelik, whose style, sound and vibrato were a real trademark, you can’t mistake Korcia for another. For this reason, he stands out among his contemporaries.” Diapason

“With Sakari Oramo and the CBSO providing urgent and incisive accompaniment, Korcia mesmerises the listener with a dramatic account that offers little relief. The almost improvisatory conception of Contrasts is extremely persuasive, with Michel Portal's clarinet vibrato emulating the jazzy tone of the work's original performer Benny Goodman. The two sonatas are also delivered with powerful intensity...” BBC Music Magazine, April 2006 *****

“Laurent Korcia plays Bartók's Second Violin Concerto as if he's known it and loved it since birth. Everything sounds so natural. …the sweep and spontaneity are infectious, Korcia's sound invariably full and gutsy, the whole production focused in an excellent, well balanced recording. The Contrasts are... also excellently played... Michel Portal has a creamy, mellifluous tone that reminds me of the original soloist, Benny Goodman... Jean-Effiam Bavouzet is a highly capable pianist...” Gramophone Magazine, June 2006

“Henri Dutilleux has always had his admirers… This first recording of the recent Sur le même accord will only stoke his reputation further… Displaying by turns searing lyricism, brusque animation and a mysterious luminescence, it feels nothing like a miniature, and yet it lasts less than nine minutes. Anne-Sophie Mutter, for whom Dutilleux wrote the work, is, predictably, a magnificent advocate in this splendid live recording... The coupling of Mutter's much earlier accounts of Bartók and Stravinsky is no less enticing. These are full-blooded performances, with plenty of nuance and finesse...” BBC Music Magazine, May 2005 *****

“Gyorgy Pauk plays both works with excellent intonation, secure technique, and a sure sense of style. Tempos in the outer movements of the Second Concerto are a bit on the slow side, but never excessively so; Pauk and his conductor really breathe with the music. It!|s a very Romantic, rhapsodic interpretation, made all the more impressive by a spacious recording that allows the orchestra plenty of room to expand, but never at the expense of the soloist. In fact, the first movement of the First Concerto and the nocturnal slow movement of the Second are among the most poetic and atmospheric on disc. A fine achievement at a great price.” Classics Today

“The strongest aspect of these performances is soloist Gyorgy Pauk's supremely idiomatic playing. He may not have the virtuosity of a Mullova or Midori, but there are only one or two moments when he sounds uncomfortable with the technical demands, and the Hungarian idioms of Concerto No 2 flow naturally from his bow, unexaggerated yet full of character.
He's strikingly successful, too, at seeing each movement as a whole. It's so easy for the first movement of Concerto No 2, with its dramatic mood-swings, to sound disjointed, but here the march-tread of the opening remains somewhere in the background through most of the movement, giving it real coherence.
Rob Cowan, reviewing a recent Shaham/ Boulez recording, commented that performances of this concerto which elongate Bartók's meticulous timings tend to miss something of the music's fiery spirit, and this version might also be thought rather easygoing by the side of Mullova, who stays close to Bartók's suggested tempos. She benefits, too, from a more sharply-focused recording. Though well balanced, this one lacks the last degree of definition and perspective – essential if Bartók's marvellously detailed orchestration is to make its full effect. The orchestral playing is accurate and spirited, but doesn't have the refinement that allows an orchestra like the Berlin Philhar- monic to give such a strong sense of direction to the first movement of the First Concerto, and to accentuate the grotesque features of its second movement.
Pauk's interpretations, thoughtful and strongly felt, are essential listening for Bartók enthusiasts.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010