Zádor: Sinfonia Technica

 

In Volume 6 of Naxos' Eugene Zádor orchestral series, we find two sides of the Hungarian composer.

I still tend to prefer Zádor's shorter works, here the Tarantella – Scherzo and In Memoriam. In these pieces, the composer is at his most affable, tossing off melodies and rhythm in a highly engaging, not to mention small-scale, format. I love the unexpected turn towards a swashbuckling finale in the former, while the sweeping strings take me away in the latter.

If the two concertante works bring to mind fellow Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, join in with this listener. The opening movements of both the Music for Clarinet and Strings and Trombone Concerto find the composer at his most dissonant thus far, and certainly air out a pervading melancholic mood. While Zádor might use the term atonality, nothing could be further from the truth, for he works in a completely tonal landscape. On the other hand, if he is not as winningly melodic or sunshiny as usual here, the composer is always strong with a theme for the listener to latch on to, and his rhythmic profile is always moving the music forward purposefully. Similarly, the final movements of both multi-movement pieces are more populous sounding, leaving the listener on a more upbeat note regardless.

The Sinfonia Technica is akin to Prokofiev and Shostakovich in their most proletariat moods, although Zádor never approaches the menacing goosesteps or hard-edged acidity of those two composers, yet it is fun to hear him edge close to that world. As far as industrial complex-influenced musical compositions go, Sinfonia Technica would probably be the most lightweight of them all, preferring to simply view nature's interactions with man-made structures rather than the sour effects such monstrosities add to the natural landscape. In other words, there is no political message in this music, I don't think, although the grouchy brass, occasional dissonance, and addition of piano conveys the industrial mood just fine.

I notice Vol. 6 has moved to the Hungaroton Studios, a smart move, as the Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV sounds great here compared to the previous Magyar Rádió Studios which sounded rather dry. Not so here, plus the listener is treated to a little sonic ambiance as well. As always, Mariusz Smolij is an energetic advocate of Zádor's orchestral music, and while I might not start here with the composer as a listener, these pieces all come off excellently.

 

 

 

Works
Tarantella – Scherzo (8.34)
Music for Clarinet and Strings (13.47)
Trombone Concerto (14.12)
In Memoriam (5.47)
Sinfonia Technica (27.42)

Soloists
Pál Sólyomi, clarinet
András Fejér, trombone

Ensemble
Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV

Mariusz Smolij, conductor 

Label: Naxos
Year: 2020
Total Timing: 70.27

 

 

 

 

This program of Eugene Zádor orchestral and concertante music shows he could sound modern while still pleasing the masses.

While I prefer the composer in populous mode, nothing here should scare away any listeners fearful of dissonance.

 

 

 

Find more Zádor recordings HERE!