NOSPR / Slatkin / Bavouzet - NOSPR

Could the musical 20th century have begun in the Baroque era? If we take a look at the sources of inspiration to be found in neoclassicist music, it will prove to be exactly the case. Henry Purcell’s metaphysical Chaconne inspired Benjamin Britten to prepare a transcription, but it was much more that Britten drew from the 18th-century genius. Bartók also looks behind, summarizing his work in the Piano Concerto No. 3, composed on his deathbed and permeated with unusual, wonderfully beautiful lyricism. Alan Hohvaness, an American with Armenian background, reaches towards the oriental choral tradition, creating a piercing and mysterious work in the form of the Symphony No. 2. Could it be that the most modern composer of them all is George Gershwin, with his mixture of styled swing and the French charme? We will learn all that from the greatest musicians of the present day: a French master of the piano, and an American master of the baton – a genuine classic of our time.

Jakub Puchalski