Hungarian Pictures [17CD]

Hungarian Pictures

Limited edition 17CD set

Hungarian Pictures presents recordings of music by Liszt, Bartók, Kodály and Dohnányi in recordings of native authority, many of them making their first appearance on CD. János Ferencsik and György Lehel were leading orchestras who knew their style intimately, and who had the Hungarian rhythms of this music flowing in their blood.

In the 1960s, Deutsche Grammophon and the Westminster label introduced listeners to much fascinating Hungarian repertoire which they had never previously encountered. This Eloquence set of ‘Hungarian Connections’ gathers up these rare recordings for the first time and reissues them in newly remastered versions with original covers.

A booklet essay by Peter Quantrill explores the careers of the two principal musicians leading the music-making on the set, János Ferencsik and György Lehel. These were both conductors who did not flee Hungary when the revolution was so brutally suppressed by the Communists in 1956. Accordingly, they came to play a central role in musical culture in postwar Budapest, with Ferencsik based at the Opera and Lehel at the Radio and TV company.

Ferencsik and Lehel were leading orchestras who knew their style intimately, and who had the Hungarian rhythms of this music flowing in their blood: Ferencsik remarked that he performed Bartók’s music as naturally as if he were breathing. No less compelling is the single album issued by DG of Kodaly conducting his own music, which introduced the shimmeringly evocative tone-poem Summer Evening to many western listeners.

Finally, there is a single LP of highlights from the 1961 Liszt-Bartok Piano Competition, held in Budapest: the winner Gábor Gabos gives a thunderously eloquent account of Liszt’s Piano Sonata, and there are further performances by the young Dino Ciani, Valentin Belchenko and David Wilde.

TRACKLIST

CD 1

HAYDN Mass in D minor, Hob. XXII:11 ‘Nelson Mass’
János Ferencsik
FIRST INTERNATIONAL RELEASE ON CD

CD 2

LISZT A Faust Symphony
János Ferencsik
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 3

LISZT Dante Symphony
György Lehel
Tasso – Lamentoso e Trionfo
János Ferencsik
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 4

LISZT Hungaria; Orpheus; Mephisto Waltz No. 1
János Ferencsik
Les Préludes; Rapsodie espagnole
György Lehel
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 5

LISZT Fantasia on Hungarian Folk Tunes
Sviatoslav Richter · János Ferencsik
Deux Légendes; Cantico del sol di Francesco d’Assisi
Gerd Albrecht

CDs 6–7

LISZT Die Legende von der Heiligen Elisabeth
Siegfried Heinrich

CD 8

LISZT Missa solemnis ‘Graner Messe’
János Ferencsik

CD 9

LISZT Hungarian Coronation Mass
János Ferencsik

CD 10

DOHNÁNYI Variations on a Nursery Song; Ruralia Hungarica
Kornél Zemplény
György Lehel
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 11

BARTÓK The Miraculous Mandarin
János Ferencsik
Cantata profana
György Lehel
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 12

BARTÓK Dance Suite
KODÁLY Peacock Variations
György Lehel
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 13

BARTÓK Viola Concerto
DÁVID Viola Concerto
Pál Lukács
János Ferencsik
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 14

BARTÓK Village Scenes
Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta
György Lehel
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 15

BARTÓK Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Kornél Zemplény (No. 1)
Tibor Wehner (No. 2)
János Ferencsik
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

CD 16

KODÁLY Summer Evening
Concerto for Orchestra
Zoltán Kodály

CD 17

1961 LISZT–BARTÓK COMPETITION
LISZT Piano Sonata; Mazeppa; Funérailles
BARTÓK Out of Doors
Gábor Gabos ∙ David Wilde
Valentin Belcsenko ∙ Dino Ciani
FIRST RELEASE ON CD

ARTISTS
János Ferencsik; György Lehel

***

Eloquence 17CD Set
4844395