S. Barber - Violin Concerto - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Capricorn Concerto • A Hand of Bridge • Intermezzo from Vanessa The music itself is something of a departure for Barber, bandying between playful, insistent baroque textures and a more lyrical, more melodically driven composition, though Barber is still Barber, a melodist and a modernist alike. Allegedly each member of the Capricorn household, Barber, Menotti, and Chip, Menotti's adopted son, is represented with their own individual theme, thematically depicting each of their personalities. The first movement flits between two tempi, Allegro (fast) and Andante con moto (walking speed, but with motion), and is cast in a rondo form, with development being the driving force, Barber's spotless compositional technique on full display. The second movement is playful, save for one tranquil passage, favored by a boisterous line for plucked viola, while the final movement, Barber's most direct homage to Bach, features a trumpet fanfare in it's spirited midst.

This two-album collection featuring some of the best known and most successful songs of her career comes from perhaps the greatest Hungarian pop legend. Zsuzsa Koncz's career started after her performance in the Ki mit tud? talent show of 1962. She has been performing with various bands and musicians over the years, most notably Illés and János Bródy. In the 1970s, she made several successful tours abroad, mainly in Eastern Bloc countries as well as in West Germany (sometimes under the names Shusha Koncz and Jana Koncz in German-speaking countries), but also in France, the U.S., and Japan. She remains extremely popular in Hungary, with some of her songs now part of Hungarian folklore, among them 'A Kárpáthyék lánya', 'Ha én rózsa volnék', and 'Valahol egy lány.'

S. Barber - Orchestral Works 2 [COMPACT DISCS] date 03/20/2001