Ferenc FARKAS (1905-2000)
Orchestral Music – Volume 5
Symphonic Overture
(1952)* [10:39]
Elegia
(1952)* [10:05]
Concertino for Piano and Orchestra
(1947)* [16:27]
Franz LISZT (1811-1886)
Funérailles
(orch. Farkas, 1974)* [11:49]
Ferenc FARKAS
Planctus et consolationes
(1965) [17:28]
Dances from the Mátra
(1968)* [6:57]
1. Legényes (Young Men’s Dance)
2. Leánytánc (Young Women’s Dance)
3. Cigánycsárdás (Gypsy Dance)
Gábor Farkas (piano)
MÁV Symphony Orchestra/Gábor Takács-Nagy
rec. 2016/17, Hungarian Radio, Budapest
Reviewed as a 24/48 download from
eClassical
Pdf booklet included
*First recording in this version
TOCCATA CLASSICS TOCC0286
[73:25]
By a happy coincidence this release brings together two of this year’s most
significant ‘finds’. First was this underrated composer, whose
Music for Wind Ensemble
impressed me so; second was the pianist Gábor Farkas – no relation – whose
splendid
Liszt transcriptions
confirm he’s an artist to watch. And let’s not forget Toccata Classics,
whose pursuit of less-well-known repertoire has brought lots of neglected
music to light. Apart from this Farkas series, I must commend their
traversal of Ernst Krenek’s piano concertos, with Mikhail Korzhev and the
English Symphony Orchestra under Kenneth Woods; I’ve reviewed the
first
and
second
instalments.
As for the conductor Gábor Takács-Nagy, this collection marks his first
appearance in the series. I’ve only encountered him once before; alas, that
was in a rather disappointing
video
from the 2010 Verbier Festival. The MÁV Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1945
by the Hungarian State Railways (Magyar Államvasutak), is entirely new to
me. They featured in
Volume 1,
under the direction of Péter Csaba. Incidentally, the style ‘Volume 5’
refers to the number of Toccata releases devoted to Farkas’s orchestral
music; in fact, this newcomer is just the latest instalment in a
multi-genre project that runs to at least 10 albums thus far.
As László Gombos points out in his admirably concise and interesting
liner-notes, the symphony orchestra wasn’t Farkas’s favourite medium.
Indeed, the Symphonic Overture and Elegia constitute the
first two movements of the symphony he withdrew shortly after its premiere
in 1952. The first, brooding and rather bass-heavy at the start, is not
without rhythmic vitality, while the second is more inward. Come to think
of it, there’s a panoramic energy to the overture that reminds me of Franz
Waxman at his most vivid and vital. Even the elegy has its fiery
flourishes. Thrilling stuff!
The sound here is big and beefy, but then that fits well with the
widescreen feel of these impassioned openers. The recording is warm and
fairly detailed, if a little too close for my liking; that said, it’s
perfectly acceptable. Ditto this band and conductor, who dispatch these
pieces with commendable thrust and enthusiasm. The tripartite Concertino has a jolly, folkloric flavour, and our pianist plays the
grandiose interjections with his tongue wedged firmly in his cheek. The
middle movement is light and airy, whereas the finale – possibly the
weakest of the three – is something of a stylistic mélange. Also,
the piano seems very bright, with a hint of jangle in the work’s more
excitable moments.
Farkas orchestrated the Liszt Funérailles for Dreams of Love,
Márton Keleti’s 1970 biopic of Hungary’s most celebrated composer,
conductor and virtuoso. It’s predictably dark, but, as with the Symphonic Overture, it has enough momentum and interest to sustain
its modest length. It has some very imposing peaks, and Farkas’s
colouristic skills are really quite striking. Remarkably, he manages to
infuse much of what he wrote with that unmistakable Magyar magic, and this
accomplished orchestration is no exception.
The eight-movement Planctus et consolationes, which Farkas composed
in memory of his friend, the Hungarian-born film director Paul Fejos, is
yet another example of this composer writing, perhaps subconsciously, for
the big screen. The piece, by turns bold and bereft, is certainly
imaginative, but having admired several albums in the Toccata series I’m
not sure I’d agree with Gombos’s assertion that this is Farkas’s
masterpiece. Indeed, if the first two movements of that symphony are
anything to go by, the full four could well be a better candidate. Is a
complete performance and possible? If so, I’d be keen to hear it. The third
movement was turned into a Scherzo sinfonico in 1970.
And what better way to end than with Dances from the Mátra,
commissioned by the Eger Symphony Orchestra, whose home is near the Mátra
Hills of northern Hungary. According to Gombos, the material for this short
piece is drawn from Farkas’s folk-opera Vitrics, premiered in 1964.
In the event, I expected the Legényes to be more virile than it is,
the Leánytánc to be more coquettish, but I suspect that has more to
do with the heavy-handed performance than the score itself. At least
Takács-Nagy makes up for that with a feisty finale.
Not the best album in the series, but Farkas fans will want it; close,
somewhat variable sound.
Dan Morgan
