Bohuslav Martinu - Rhapsody-Concerto for viola & orchestra / Vincent d'Indy - Symphonie sur un chant montagnard français pour piano & orchestre. Peter Maag. flac+booklet

Богуслав Мартину - Рапсодия-концерт для альта с оркестром
Венсан д'Энди - Симфония на тему песни французского горца для ф-но с оркестром

The Martinu Rhapsody-Concerto comes from 1952, a year before the Sixth Symphony (the Fantaisies symphoniques) and first appeared on a Panton LP (8110 0024, 3/81—nla) played by Lubomir Maly and the Prague Symphony Orchestra under Vdclav Smetaeek. I mention its date since there is some foreshadowing of the Fantaisies symphoniques, particularly in the second movement, and the note does not place it specifically in time. It is a two-movement-work, free in its formal layout, imaginative: the quieter episodes have an inner repose and melancholy that are far more moving here than in the Maly/Smetaeek performance.
There is nothing spectacular or high-powered about this account of the Rhapsody-Concerto under Peter Maag. In fact, I first thought the opening needed to be held on a tighter rein but soon warmed to the great naturalness and breadth with which the music unfolds in his hands. As admirers of this conductor will expect, this is a selfless performance of the old school that allows Martinu to speak for himself without any attempt at interpretative point-making, yet there is no want of personality. The viola soloist, Rivka Golani is a wonderful artist and plays with a gloriously warm tone and much musical insight. If this reading is more leisurely than the tauter version by Smetaeek, it is also more thoughtful. The Smetaeek has a clear sense of direction and momentum while Peter Maag, by taking his time, penetrates deeper under the surface. The sound makes no attempt to be sensational either: the balance is that of a very fine broadcast rather than a seat in a concert hall; but detail is kept in an excellent and believable perspective.
Older readers may remember that Michel Block won Rubinstein's acclaim at Warsaw in the year that Pollini came to prominence and went on to make a fine DG recording of Chopin's B flat minor Sonata. Since then he has been active teaching: the late-lamented Terence Judd was one of his pupils. (I mention this since no information about either soloist is offered on the sleeve.) He is a sensitive player and gives a sympathetic account of d'Indy's Symphonie sur un chant montagnard francais. The recording, made in the Casino, Berne, is well balanced, with the piano slightly but not unrealistically forward, and again benefits from a well-judged perspective: it could perhaps open out more at climaxes. Recommended, especially for the MartinU, which is one of the finest works of his last period.

Bohuslav Martinu (1890 - 1959)
1-2. Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola & Orchestra
I. Moderato
II. Molto adagio

Vincent D'Indy (1861-1931)

3-5. Symphony Sur Un Chant Montagnard Francais (Symphonie cêvenole) pour Piano & Orchestra, Op. 25
I. Assez lent
II. Assez modere
III. Anime

Rivka Golani, viola
Michel Block, piano
Berne Symphony Orchestra
Peter Maag, cond.

http://files.mail.ru/5V7NV2

Bartok - Divertimento. Romanian Folk Dances / Janacek - Mladi. Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. flac

Бела Барток - Дивертисмент. Румынские танцы
Леош Яначек - "Юность", сюита для духовых инструментов

I've been trying to imagine what might have been the planning underlying this rather curious assemblage of items—a work for string orchestra, a wind sextet, and a make-weight of Bartok's own salon-orchestra arrangement of his most popular set of dances: the sleeve-note's thesis of the composers' nostalgia for the folk-music they had heard in their early days amounts to no more than proclaiming that there is a B in both. Perhaps the idea was to demonstrate that Bartok at 58, and Janáek at 70, could write music bubbling with the same youthful vitality as is shown by the 26-strong conductorless New York ensemble pictured on the cover (scarcely any looking old enough to have been founding members when it was established in 1972).

The Divertimento (each movement of which is taken slightly slower than by the Liszt Chamber Orchestra on Hungaroton) is given a committed and warm-hearted performance, though there is some feeling that they are trying a bit too hard to make every point. The first movement is more vehement and intense; the Mo/ia adagio does not quite capture the mysterious sense of repressed menace so well conveyed by Rolla; and the finale's humour would have emerged more happily had it been less highly pressurized. The orchestra's strong rhythmic accentuation pays dividends in the "Polka" of the Roman/an .fo/kdances, which thereby acquires a heightened exotic flavour.

The Orpheus wind-players' conception of the JanOëek is more delicate and intimate than that of their Los Angeles/Delos rivals; and in this they are helped by a horn with a less wide-bore tone and by a recording which is lighter in general and which produces a more equal instrumental blend. The whole thing has an engaging air of freshness and spontaneity in its treatment of Janhek's quirkily unexpected juxtapositions

Bela Bartok (1881-1945)

Divertimento, Sz 113
1 I. Allegro non troppo 9.37
 2  II. Molto adagio 9.37
 3 III. Allegro assai 7.17
 4 Romanian Folk Dances, Sz 68 6.29

Leos Janacek (1854-1928)

Mládí (Youth), suite for winds
 5 I Allegro 3.45
 6 II Andante sostenuto 5.09
 7 III Vivace 3.56
 8 IV Allegro animato 4.34

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

http://files.mail.ru/C3RWYC