Zádor: Divertimento

 

This recording is the second volume of orchestral music from the Hungarian composer Eugene Zádor on Naxos. I love the opening work Elegie and Dance, a sweeping Romantic ditty with cinematic colors and grandeur. If there is a subtle atmospheric French influence, imbuing such a style makes the composition all the better.

I am also rather fond of the following Oboe Concerto as well. As I intimated in the first volume of Zádor's music on Naxos (BLOG), I detect more mid-Century Americana in this music than overt Hungarian Nationalism, a term I could also apply to some degree to the previous Elegie and Dance. In music, there is a natural rise and fall of musical phrases, so it is always striking when a composer chooses a melody which moves downward, here sounded out in the outer movements in jaunty rhythmic downward leaps. If there is a chilly, plaintive Vaughan Williams-esque element, such comparisons are of pure fondness from this listener.

The Divertimento for Strings and the Studies for Large Orchestra show Zádor embracing 20th Century modernism, although never to a degree as to alienate general listeners. Still, I think the composer was more successful in musical contrast and showcasing the orchestra in his Five Contrasts, where here melody and orchestral color take a back seat to a certain musical crustiness. I am startlingly reminded of Béla Bartók in the Divertimento, perhaps not a surprise since the two composers share Hungary as their homeland. In the orchestral Studies, diverse genres such as jazz pop up here and there, as well as an extended percussion section and extra instrumental effects from the section players.

As in Volume 1, the brass makes the listener aware of a dryness to the recorded studio acoustic, but is generally fine throughout. Certainly, the Budapest Symphony Orchestra under Mariusz Smolij commit to rather lovely playing across the board. Oboe soloist László Hadady is very forward sonically, but not to the detriment to the music, and is an excellent soloist in this music.

 

 

 

Works
Elegie and Dance (12.43)
Oboe Concerto (12.35)
Divertimento (17.00)
Studies (25.49)


Ensemble
Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV

Mariusz Smolij, conductor 

Label: Naxos
Year: 2013
Total Timing: 68.21

 

 

Only in comparison to the programming in the first volume do I hesitate to give this one full marks, at least for this listener.

Otherwise, the performance itself is outstanding, and so does the listener get a fuller view of Zádor as a composer.

Find more Zádor recordings HERE!