The fact that Nikos Skalkottas was one of Schoenberg’s elite composition students obscures the fact that he began his career as a violinist of concert-artist...

The fact that Nikos Skalkottas was one of Schoenberg’s elite composition students obscures the fact that he began his career as a violinist of concert-artist level. The two concertos gathered here highlight this violinist/composer duality. The programme features the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra performed from the new critical edition, as well as the world première recording of the Concerto for violin, viola and wind orchestra. This performance is based on the first, critical edition of the work, prepared by violinist George Zacharias, who also appears here as the soloist in both works.

Both concertos were composed in the late 1930s, a critical period in the life of the composer who, owing to the political situation, was unable to stay in Germany and had to return to his Athenian home. There, Skalkottas continued to work on his compositional language, resulting in an idiosyncratic system described as ‘fractal serialism’. Despite its complexity, the music also presents tonal references, a classical structure and even echoes of military bands and jazz, an allusion no doubt to the occupation forces and music banned by the authorities. George Zacharias, with violist Alexandros Koustas, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Martyn Brabbins bring us two mature works by the Greek modernist.

REVIEWS:

Conductor Martyn Brabbins and the London Philharmonic fully enter into the spirit of this concerto as well as the soloists do. I say that because, as a rule, British musicians tend not to be able to relax and have fun with really serious music as well as some Germans and Scandinavians do, but somehow or other Brabbins and his forces really play in a very peppy manner, mirroring their soloists. Only in the second movement does the feeling become more serious, and it is here that Skalkottas’ orchestration leans more heavily on a strange combination of the winds and brasses to create an almost mechanical sound.

To recap, I found the Violin Concerto cerebral but extraordinarily constructed, the Violin-Viola Concerto well constructed but somewhat more appealing to an average listener. Both are very well played and recorded; the SACD sound allows you to hear every little detail and nuance in Skalkottas’ extremely interesting scores. In fact, the sound is so clear that you almost don’t even need to see the score. Kudos to everyone concerned with this project. These are outstanding performances and recordings of two outstanding works.

-- MusicWeb International

An interesting encounter: Nikos Skalkottas’ Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in the new critical edition is a complex work with fluttering rhythms, set between the twelve-tone method and tonal elements, performed with captivating clarity by the performers.

The following Concerto for Violin, Viola and Wind Orchestra, A/K 25 sounds like a blend of Hindemith and Prokofiev with Stravinsky as the icing on the cake. This is the world premiere recording of the concerto based on the first critical edition of the work prepared by violinist George Zacharias, who is also the soloist along with violist Alexandros Koustas. Both are convincing in their gripping interpretations, whose exquisite sonorities attest to a motivated musicality.

Martyn Brabbins sharpens Skalkottas’ music without making it nervous, as one might initially fear.

-- Pizzicato