Zoltan Kocsis plays Bartok (8 CD box set, APE)

Performer: Márta Lukin, Zoltán Kocsis, Karoly Mocsári
Composer: Bela Bartok
Audio CD
SPARS Code: ADD
Number of Discs: 8 CD box set
Format: APE (tracks+cue)
Label: Philips
Size: 1.47 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes

CD 01
01.-14. 14 Bagatelles
15.-16. 2 Elegies
17.-22. 6 Danses populaires roumaines
23.-25. Sonatina
26.-28. 3 Chansons populaires hongroises

CD 02
01.-02. 2 Danses roumaines
03. 03 Chansons populaires hongroises du district de Csík
04. Allegro barbaro
05.-08. 4 Nénies
09.-12. Suite
13.-14. Noёls roumains
15.-17. 3 Studies
18.-20. 3 Rondos sur des chansons populaires
21. Les débutants au piano

CD 03
Pour les enfants
01.-07. Livre I
08.-13. Livre II
14.-27. Livre III

CD 04
01.-02. Sonata pour piano
04.-08. En plein air (Volume I, II)
09.-17. Neuf petits morceaux pour piano (Volume I, II & 3)
18.-23. Petite Suite

CD 05
Mikrokosmos
01.-36. Livre I
37.-66. Livre II
57.-96. Livre III

CD 06
Mikrokosmos
01.-25. Livre IV
26.-43. Livre V
44.-57. Livre VI

CD 07
01.-03. Trois Buriesques
04.-10. Sept Eaquisses
11.-24. Quinze (15) Chants paysans hohgrois
25.-32. Improvisations sur des chants paysans hohgrois
33.-43. Dix (10) Pièces faciles pour piano

CD 08
01.-06. Danse Suite
07. Rhapsodie, op.1
08.-11. 4 morceaux pour piano
12. Marche funèbre from “Kossuth”
13. Rhapsodie, op.1

Masterful interpretation of Bartok’s piano works

Without a doubt Bartok is one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. Combining a deep understanding of the possibilities of eastern European folk music – particularly Hungarian and Romanian – with an extremely advanced harmonic and rhythmic vocabulary, Bartok composed some of the greatest works of the last century.

Although Bartok wrote some sublime orchestral music (The Music for strings, percussion and celeste comes instantly to mind), it is in the realms of string quartet and solo piano music that Bartok reigns supreme among 20th century composers in the humble opinion of this reviewer.

So. Here is an 8 CD set of all of Bartok’s solo piano music by (argueably) the pre-eminent interpreter of his piano music. These are insightful, passionate performances beautifully recorded.

I for one am thrilled to have this set – particularly since many of these CDs were unavailable up till now. The box is also very reasonably priced compared to the separate CDs.

Highly recommended – modern music begins here.