NRR Project: Bartok and Szigeti perform live -- April 13, 1940

 

NRR Project: Bela Bartok, piano; Joseph Szigeti, violin

Beethoven: Kreutzer Sonata

Bartok: Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin and Piano; Violin Sonata No. 2

Debussy: Violin Sonata

Recorded April 13, 1940, Library of Congress

1:09

Here is a case where I can only point you to the words of a real expert. Elliott Antokoletz’s magnificent explanatory essay will tell you everything there is to know about this performance. Access it here!

Although I am conversant with the history of classical music, I am unfamiliar with most of Bartok’s music . . . and what I’ve heard I haven’t enjoyed. I was introduced to classical music in a time when atonality was all the rage, and I conditioned myself to listen to it and appreciate it. Since those days, the genre has moved on though minimalism to a new kind of melodiousness, which is much more popular with the public.

This performance is engaging and technically brilliant, although I have not the bandwidth to explicate it for you.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Next time: Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys!