Nikos Skalkottas - Two Concertos (George Zacharias; Alexandros Koustas)

Information

Composer: Nikos Skalkottas

• Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, a/K 22
• Concerto for Violin, Viola and Wind Orchestra, a/K 25

George Zacharias, violin

Alexandros Koustas, viola

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Martyn Brabbins, conductor

Date: 2023

Label: BIS

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Review

Arguably, both recordings here are firsts, as although Skalkottas’s Violin Concerto (1937 38) has appeared on CD before, this is the first recording of the new critical edition, correcting ‘mistakes, misreadings and [deciding] on the best text’ from the various sources, by Dr Eva Mantzourani (author incidentally of the two best studies in English on the composer). The most noticeable outward difference with BIS’s previous recording is the timing of the concerto’s opening Molto appassionato and central Andante spirito, significantly shorter in this new version, by 1'30" and 4' respectively. Brabbins’s firm, no-nonsense tempos provide a tauter framework for Zacharias and keep the central span moving where Georgios Demertzis and Nikos Christodoulou in Malmö arguably turned the latter into Adagio spirito (albeit beautifully achieved). Curiously, Brabbins is markedly slower at the outset of the Allegro vivo vivacissimo finale, though the Prestissimo conclusion thrills exactly as it should.

For many, however, the main novelty will be the Concerto for violin, viola and large wind ensemble (1939 40), given its first recording here by Zacharias (using his own edition) with viola player Alexandros Koustas. As in the Violin Concerto, Skalkottas here deployed his personal 12-note method, but it is Hindemith that one is reminded of throughout. Not often cited as an influence on him, Skalkottas must have encountered the German’s music when studying in Berlin and this double concerto is audibly a musical grandchild of the 1920s Kammermusiken. Skalkottas’s scoring – needing far more players than the 10 required in his Third Piano Concerto (BIS, 3/05; Paladino, 5/20) – is miraculously clear, but required Brabbins and the London Philharmonic’s woodwinds and brass to be on top form; they are and never overwhelm the soloists. I found Zacharias wobbly in intonation in a couple of points in the solo concerto but not in the later work. BIS’s sound is superb.

— Guy Rickards

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Nikos Skalkottas (21 March 1904 – 19 September 1949) was a Greek composer. He studied in Athens and Berlin under prominent teachers including Arnold Schoenberg. Initially focused on violin, he later turned to composition, developing a distinctive atonal style. Returning to Greece in 1933 due to the rise of Nazism, he faced limited recognition and worked as an orchestral violinist while composing extensively in isolation. Skalkottas created innovative approaches to twelve-tone and non-serial techniques, often integrating Greek folk elements. His over 170 works were mostly unpublished and unperformed during his lifetime.

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George Zacharias, born in Athens, is a Greek violinist. He studied at the Athens Conservatory, graduating in 1997, before continuing his training at the Royal College of Music in London, where he earned a Bachelor of Music and two postgraduate degrees in performance. In 2004, he completed a Master of Music in Performance at the Sydney Conservatorium as an Australian Government Scholar. Alongside releasing his first CD in 2009, he pursued doctoral research at the Royal Academy of Music. Since his debut at age 13, he has performed worldwide, recorded major works, and premiered many contemporary compositions.

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Martyn Brabbins (born 13 August 1959) is a British conductor. He studied composition at Goldsmiths, University of London, and conducting with Ilya Musin at the Leningrad Conservatory. Between 1994 and 2005, Brabbins was Associate Principal Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He made a significant mark through recordings not in standard repertory and as one of the main conductors involved in Hyperion's extensive Romantic Piano Concerto series. Brabbins has conducted commercial recordings of music for such labels as Warner, Chandos, Hyperion, NMC, Nimbus, and Deutsche Grammophon.

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