Bela Bartok – 44 Duos – Sarah & Deborah Nemtanu (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 48:11 minutes | 914 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks | Digital Booklet | © Decca
Recorded: June 2015, Babel Studios, Paris, France
Romanian-born sisters Sarah and Deborah Nemtanu form a violin-playing dynasty: Sarah has been leader of the Orchestre National de France since 2001 and Deborah leads the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris. Both began violin studies with their father Vladimir who led the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine.
The Nemtanu Sisters’ Romanian blood makes them the perfect, idiomatic interpreters of Bartok’s 44 Duos: all the songs and dances are based on folk music from many Eastern Europe countries. The harmonic and rhythmic freedom demanded by the music is second nature to them, as demonstrated in the notable track: [38] Forgatós: ‘Romanian Whirling Song’.
No strangers to the recording studio, the sisters have previously recorded the Bach Double Concerto to critical acclaim. Norman Lebrecht chose it as a Disc of the week on Sinfini Music: “Their musical dialogue is full of fascination, alternately confrontational and playful, challenging and interactive.”
Bartók composed these 44 violin duets in the early 1930s as a teaching tool – the music gets harder and more dissonant as the collection goes along. They also reveal his love of folk music from Hungary, Romania, Ukraine and neighbouring countries: each tiny study contains a song and dance. French-Romanian sisters Sarah and Deborah Nemtanu grew up playing duets but waited until their careers were up and running independently before they started recording together. Now they’re leaders of the Orchestre National de France and the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris respectively, and this is their second duo disc in as many years. They are both fiery players and they egg each other on in sparky, intuitive exchanges, but they’re used to making big, glossy solo sounds, which swamp the simpler pieces. Their best moments come when they’re at their most introspective: the sombre Wedding Song (Number 13) or the strange, sinewy New Year’s Greeting (Number 21). –Kate Molleson, Guardian
Tracklist:
Béla Bartók (1881-1945)
44 Duos for Two Violins, Sz 98
1. 1. Párosító 01:04
2. 2. Kalamajkó 00:41
3. 3. Menuetto 00:50
4. 4. Szentivánéji 00:53
5. 5. Tót Nóta 00:58
6. 6. Magyar Nóta 00:59
7. 7. Oláh Nóta 00:49
8. 8. Tót Nóta 2 01:09
9. 9. Játék 00:42
10. 10. Rutén Nóta 01:17
11. 11. Gyermekrengetéskor 01:19
12. 12. Szénagyűjtéskor 00:54
13. 13. Lakodalmas 01:38
14. 14. Párnás Tánc 00:46
15. 15. Katonanóta 01:06
16. 16. Burleszk 00:55
17. 17. Menetelő Nóta 00:45
18. 18. Menetelő Nóta 2 00:46
19. 19. Mese 01:10
20. 20. Dal 01:37
21. 21. Ujévköszöntő 02:08
22. 22. Szunyogtánc 00:42
23. 23. Menyasszonybúcsúztató 01:21
24. 24. Tréfás Nóta 00:44
25. 25. Magyar Nóta 2 00:54
26. 26. “Ugyan Édes Komámasszony…” 00:28
27. 27. Sánta-Tánc 00:31
28. 28. Bánkódás 02:17
29. 29. Ujévköszöntő 2 00:46
30. 30. Ujévköszöntő 3 00:49
31. 31. Ujévköszöntő 4 00:40
32. 32. Máramarosi Tánc 00:44
33. 33. Aratáskor 01:38
34. 34. Számláló Nóta 01:00
35. 35. Rutén Kolomejka 00:56
36. 36. Szól a Duda – Változata 02:08
37. 37. Preludium és Kánon 02:46
38. 38. Forgatós 00:42
39. 39. Szerb Tánc 00:46
40. 40. Oláh Tánc 00:50
41. 41. Scherzo 00:49
42. 42. Arab Dal 01:23
43. 43. Pizziccato 00:59
44. 44. “Erdélyi” Tánz 01:51
Personnel:
Sarah Nemtanu, Violin
Déborah Nemtanu, Violin
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