Miklós Rózsa: Viola Concerto/Hungarian Serenade (Naxos Audio CD)

Gilad Karni (viola)
Budapest Concert Orchestra MÁV,
Mariusz Smolij

The spirit of his native Hungary is seldom far away from the concert music of Miklós Rózsa, in spite of some 55 years spent in Hollywood and his long association with music for the cinema.

His Viola Concerto, the later of the two works presented here, was written in 1979 – at the request of Piatigorsky for the young Pinchas Zuckerman, who gave its first performance – and brings with it a certain astringency reminiscent of Bartók rather than Kodály.

“Naxos strikes again, with a fascinating collection of violin works by Miklos Rozsa (1907-1995), whose day job for 46 years was producing scores to such films as Spellbound and Ben-Hur. The early post-conservatory items from Europe are written in a folkish style reminiscent of, though less gritty than, Kodaly and Bartok…. A must-have for fiddle fans.”
Montreal Gazette

“The Israeli Gilad Karni . . . has a clean clear tone, with the confidence and command to express his youthful joy in making music.”
The Strad