Until the '40s, Béla Bartók -- with his angular melodies, his brash colors, his harsh harmonies, and especially his aggressive rhythms -- was regarded as a modernist boogieman. But after his exile to America, Bartók's modernism mellowed, and his final works are among the most immediately attractive in twentieth century music. This is especially true of his 1944 Concerto for orchestra, with its appealing melodies, brilliant colors, vivid harmonies, and especially its irresistibly infectious rhythms. With the Concerto for ...
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Until the '40s, Béla Bartók -- with his angular melodies, his brash colors, his harsh harmonies, and especially his aggressive rhythms -- was regarded as a modernist boogieman. But after his exile to America, Bartók's modernism mellowed, and his final works are among the most immediately attractive in twentieth century music. This is especially true of his 1944 Concerto for orchestra, with its appealing melodies, brilliant colors, vivid harmonies, and especially its irresistibly infectious rhythms. With the Concerto for orchestra, Bartók went from a modernist boogieman to a modernist master.Until fairly recently, the best Bartók conductors were Hungarian. But while Szell, Solti, and especially Reiner are remembered as great Bartók conductors, Eugene Ormandy is often forgotten. This is unfortunate, since, as this 1963 recording of the Concerto for orchestra with the Philadelphia Orchestra demonstrates, Ormandy was a superlative Bartók conductor with melodies that sing, colors that sparkle, harmonies...
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