Skalkottas Redux!

[jayne lee wilson]

• 
  Big find here is the first ever recording of the 35-minute Suite No.1, a key atonal/neoclassical Skalk composition which some of us have been waiting for years to hear, having merely read about it....and a remarkably serious, atmospheric and startlingly inventive piece it turns out to be.
  Classic 30s-Berlin Schoenbergian ominousness and introspection, but with Skalk's own distinctive voice and sound.
  He left the score (and many others) behind when he left Berlin in 1933, unaware he would never return; later reconstructing the work from memory. Extraordinary life story he had. And far too short.
  
  But this terrific, musically wide-ranging album is all I'd hoped and more. The Greek Dances Series 1 are given their best ever performance, with all the warmth and idiomatic passion the worthy, pioneering BBCSO Complete set lacked. This Naxos one matches the old Ural State SO/Fidetzis for guts and Villageoise abandon, but with the discipline and ensemble missing (to some extent I guess deliberately) from that classic, scarily rough-and-ready Fidetzis (often over the edge, not just close to it; wonderful in spirit and sound, but too close to an actual café band for listener comfort.) Don't be misled by the title. These dances are highlyvaried, innovative and highly-wrought creations.
  
  Great sound too. Warm, immediate, inviting.
  I hope Naxos continue this project. The Sea (an amazing 50-minute ballet that sounds like a Hollywood film score) needs a second complete recording with the guts and fire that the fine and pioneering Iceland SO/BIS effort is sometimes a bit short of. The extensive BIS recordings are often unique, and while good, are occasionally a little too respectful. This series is giving us just what we've wanted for so long....
  
  Hugely significant release, My Record of the Year so far (even nosing ahead of Roth's Eroica).
  
  
  Skalkottas: Orchestral Works (Vol.2)
  Athens State Orchestra, Stefanos Tsialis
  
  Released on 14/05/2021 by Naxos

  • Main artist: Athens State Orchestra
  • QOBUZ 24/48//CD

  
  
  I just had to give this marvel a thread of its own....please try to take a listen...
  
  
  
  
  
  

[Joseph K]

I'd listen, but while at least some of these works appear to be on youtube, they very unhelpfully appear under 'Various Artists - Topic', making locating all of them difficult... (no other streaming options are available for me)...

[cloughie]

I'd listen, but while at least some of these works appear to be on youtube, they very unhelpfully appear under 'Various Artists - Topic', making locating all of them difficult... (no other streaming options are available for me)...

It is on Spotify - can you get that?

[edashtav]

Thanks for this exciting news, Jayne : I’ve just ordered a copy adding Peter Eötvös’s Alhambra Violin Concerto ( another recent release with Hilary Hahn in mesmeric form) which may appeal to your fine ear for timbre.

correction: the sensitive violinist is Isabelle Faust.

[jayne lee wilson]

I'd listen, but while at least some of these works appear to be on youtube, they very unhelpfully appear under 'Various Artists - Topic', making locating all of them difficult... (no other streaming options are available for me)...

Try "Naxos Skalkottas" - you will probably get many single movements, but it is licensed by Naxos so its OK...I have the Classical Symphony (for wind orchestra, two harps and double basses ) playing now off Naxos volume one....this is the pop-folk-Skalkottas, but its quirky subtleties intrigue the ear, and it really brightens up a dull day. (I pray to Thee for Thy Return O Sun...)

But what a remarkable, dazzlingly gifted composer... only allowed 45 too-eventful years for his creator spiritus to gift more wonders into This Suffering World...

Cats in the Garden now, peering in at me... time to join them and see whats new out there...

[Joseph K]

Thanks Jayne - currently playing the first symphonic suite.