No other company has produced such a compendious Kodály
collection so direct competition is not going to be an issue
in this review. That still leaves the question of how well this
collection meets the needs of Kodály and the listener
or collector.
For collectors whose memories extend back to the primeval ooze
of the vinyl era the recordings here are likely to be familiar.
Who would have thought that Decca would still be extracting yield
from those stereo sessions of forty-plus years ago? Fortunately
they hit a golden time for Decca recording technology. This together
with authentic national flavouring from all concerned including
the sympathy and intensity of Doráti (1906-1988) and Kertész
(1929-1973) provides a healthy foundation for infinite issue,
reissue, repackaging and re-sequencing. Every change of playing
medium technology will find the company reaching back to these
recordings. The recordings are by no means strangers to the CD
format. Broadly speaking CDs 1 and 2 were originally reissued
on silver disc as Double Decca 443 006-2 but with some differences.
Then again we heard the lion’s share of CDs 3 and 4 on
Decca 443 488-2 which had Kertész’s
Peacock Variations rather
than Doráti’s. The first set can still be had but
the second disappeared years ago and is inaccessible unless you
go for the ArkivCD custom version or strike it lucky with
Amazon or Ebay; you might have a long wait and end up paying
astonishing prices though. Speaking of such matters I recall
a ragingly successful Saga LP of Kodály’s Cello
Sonata (János Starker) coupled with the Duo. Do any of
you know it? I recall it as something very special indeed but
lost touch with my LP years ago. There were some wonderful things
on Saga including, in 1974, a 2LP version of Granados’
Goyescas from
the pianist Mario Miranda (Saga STXID 5343-4. If only we could
hear these recordings again.
When it comes to Kodály’s orchestral music you could
not ask for a better selection from Decca. I say this unless
you insist on stunning digital sound in which case you must go
for individual discs culled from here and there. There’s
no comparable package that competes head-on and certainly nothing
at the bargain price offered here. The set is well documented
by Colin Anderson and the track separation is generous with each
variation, scene, movement and interlude separately tracked;
only
Marosszék among the multi-movement works has
to manage with a single track. Sadly the booklet does not provide
the sung texts or translations. That’s presumably the price
you pay for the set being so low priced.
János appears as the customary suite (Doráti)
as well as the full fairytale
singspiel (Kertész)
in a prologue and four adventures all done luxuriously with Peter
Ustinov as narrator. You might I suppose find Ustinov or the
sound effects irritating; I don’t. You could opt for the
modern complete premium price version on Accord but you will
not escape a narrator. In Accord’s case it is Gérard
Dépardieu. Hungaroton have a full 2 CD version as well
with the Hungarian State Opera forces conducted by János
Ferencsik (HCD12837-38). Unfortunately I have not heard this
- though I would like to along with many other Hungaroton Kodály
entries. So far as the suite is concerned the cimbalom, in the
Doráti recording, has a relishable tangy twang and is
given lots of very welcome presence in the audio-image. Doráti’s
expatriate Hungarian band working in the safe confines of Marl
in Germany relish the break from their mammoth Haydn Symphony
Edition. The technicians pay admiring court to the braying blast
of the brass and the bucolic spindrift woodwind. The
Galanta
Dances whirl and shimmer in pastoral delight. Again the bold
recording image never hints at modesty - false or otherwise.
Kodály wrote a very large amount of choral music which
really should be recorded as an intégrale. The BBC in
the 1980s studio recorded large tracts of it. This brings me
to tr. 12 of CD 1 which is the folksong for male choir on which
the warm, vivacious and dancingly rapturous
Peacock Variations are
based. It is sung with thrumming presence by the chorus of the
LSO under the composer-conductor Arthur Oldham. Do not on any
account miss out on CD 2. Kodály lost none of his freshness
in opting for unaccustomed conventional formats such as the concerto
and the symphony. The pensive and then bustling
Theatre Overture was
initially intended for
Háry János but now
lives an independent existence. The
Concerto for Orchestra and
the
Symphony are each three movement works and have a
fresh outdoor spirit, brilliantly orchestrated and agreeably
proportioned. Each has uncanny overtones of E.J. Moeran so if
you like the Moeran Symphony,
Sinfonietta and
Serenade you
must hear these works. Other composers who occasionally come
to mind in the orchestral music are Rimsky, de Falla and
passim Stravinsky.
The Hungarian accent is present but you may be surprised by how
close Kodály is to Moeran in the Concerto and Symphony
- purely coincidental on both sides, I am sure.
Summer Evening is
an early work and is perfectly consistent with its title. Again
if you enjoy the orchestral Delius or Hadley then you will appreciate
this lavishly sun-bathed music. Interesting that the composer-conducted
versions of
Concerto for Orchestra [22:26] and
Summer
Evening [21:12] with the Budapest Philharmonic on Deutsche Grammophon Dokumente
427 408 recorded in Budapest Qualiton Studios in July 1960 are
substantially longer than Doráti in this set. The music
is so engaging but one wonders whether Kodály’s
pastoral idylls are just as idealised and oneiric as the country
rhapsodies of Delius, RVW, Moeran, Bridge and Hadley. Turning
to the final works on CD 4 (Doráti and Philharmonia Hungarica),
there is the stately
Minuetto serio with its echoes of
Haydn and Prokofiev’s
Classical, the grumpily original,
volatile and Honegger-like
Ballet Music and the sunny
disposition of the
Hungarian Rondo. Very pleasing and
with Kodály demonstrating that he has surprises up his
sleeve alongside moments that can be heard as linking with the
national rhapsodies of Alfvén and Enescu. Kertész
is back at the helm for the turbulently patriotic
Psalmus
Hungaricus. The tenor Lajos Kosma is suitably heroic and
imploring. Strange how strongly this bubbling broth of defiance
and invocatory reflection reminded me in its outer movements
of Sibelius’s
Kullervo. Incidentally among Kodály’s
legion compositions for unaccompanied choir is
Vainamoinen
Makes Music. The fervent singing of the choirs in the
Psalmus is
notable in the
Igaz vagy Uram, itéletedben finale.
That said I went back to the Fricsay live concert version (bedecked
with coughs) with German forces on DG 445 410-2 and thought the
heat of protest and fervour a few degrees higher than that projected
by Kertész. However Fricsay’s tenor Ernst Haefliger
singing in German not Hungarian was a degree more smooth though
with less vibrato than Kosma. There is a further good modern
version to be had in a 2CD set from
Brilliant
Classics. There the tenor is András Molnár.
The full singspiel
Háry János in Op. 15
(1927) spans discs 3 and 4. The artists are Margit László (soprano),
Zsolt Bende (baritone), John Leach (cimbalom), Olga Szönyi
(soprano), Erzsébet Komlossy (soprano), László Palócz,
György Melis (baritone); Edinburgh Festival Chorus, Wandsworth
School Boys' Choir. London Symphony Orchestra/István Kertész.
Recorded in 1968 this comes into a degree of competition with
Accord's two CD version. The Accord is quite new but this Decca
is still in stereo and as indicated earlier bears up Decca’s
most exalted technical traditions of the 1960s. While the Accord
has Gérard Dépardieu Decca has that master of a
thousand voices and of the absurd in the shape of the iconic
Peter Ustinov. Ustinov, radiating intelligence, plays a host
of parts and speaks in English. He introduces and guides you
through the work which could perhaps be irritating to some when
you really get to know and love the work. Sound effects - applause,
clatter of cutlery and of horse hooves (CD1 tr 12) - are used
liberally. The effect is of a radio extravaganza with Ustinov
holding court as narrator (out of the extreme LH channel) and
voicing characters amid a full-cream sung and orchestral canvas.
While Ustinov speaks in English the singing is in Hungarian and
is magnificent in its occasionally Goons-like characterisation,
its nobility and its clarity. Impressions crowd in: the cool
flutes in CD 3 trs. 1 and 4, folksy pleasures flightily articulated
by the women’s chorus (tr. 5), Leach's solo cimbalom registers
under the voice of the tenor. In tr. 10 the cimbalom takes its
place in the famous march - wonderfully registering and not losing
an ounce of its metallic-plucked resonance. In tr. 13 there are
the Heath Robinson style bells and whistles of the musical clock.
Tr. 16 is resplendent in antiphonal fanfares - a true spatial
spectacular with no apparent hiss. Tr. 18 has its raspberry bellowing
trombones and tuba as the 11 ft high Napoleon enters the stage.
There are shades here of the giant Hitler and Nazi party officials
in Brecht-Eisler’s
Schweik in WW2. The sound and
the balances are in the best vivacious Decca tradition. Tr 10
reminds us how close Hungary is to the Orient. Tr 13 exudes the
heroic turbulence of the patriotic spirit. It’s a delightful
score where romance and zany satire meet, embrace or do wooden-sworded
battle. It has a counterpart in the Prokofiev scores for
Kijé and
Three
Oranges.
This is a joyous set - satisfyingly capacious and much more than
just a wonderful introduction to Kodály’s orchestral
music.
Rob Barnett
Tracklisting
CD 1 [78:12]
Háry János - Suite
1 Prelude: The Fairy-tale begins 3:20
2 Viennese musical clock 2:14
3 Song 5:24
4 The battle and defeat of Napoleon3:58
5 Intermezzo 4:42
6 Entrance of the Emperor and his court 3:10
Dances of Galánta
7 Lento 4:38
8 Allegretto moderato 2:37
9 Allegro con moto, grazioso 1:28
10 Allegro 3:05
11 Allegro vivace 3:21
12 The Peacock: Folksong 2:56
Variations on a Hungarian Folksong “The Peacock”
13 Theme: Moderato 3:54
14 Variations I-VI 2:58
15 Variations VII-X 3:01
16 Variations XI-XII 5:33
17 Variations XIII-XVI 5:29
18 Finale: Vivace 3:51
19 Dances of Marosszék 12:25
CD 2 [73:42]
1 Theatre Overture 14:14
Concerto for Orchestra
2 I Allegro risoluto 3:24
3 II Largo 6:22
4 III Fugato -Coda 7:09
5 Summer Evening 16:44
Symphony in C
6 Allegro 10:13
7 Andante moderato 8:07
8 Vivo 7:30
CD 3 [69:25]
Háry János*
1 Introduction & Overture 5:23
Act 1: At the Russian-Hungarian Frontier
2 The Hussar’s Flute Solo 2:24
3The Old Woman 2:20
4 The Jewish Family 2:11
5 The Hungarian Girls 0:32
6 Örzse’s Song: Sej! Verd meg Isten 1:12
7 Duet - ‘Red Apple’: Piros alma 5:23
Háry, Örzse
8 Uncle Marci’s Drinking Song: O mely sok hal 3:54
9 Love Duet: Tiszán innen, Dunán túl 6:06
Háry, Örzse
10 Intermezzo 5:04
Act 2: Back in Vienna
11 Cuckoo Song: Ku-ku-kukuskám 2:29
Marie-Louise
12 The Wild Stallion 2:49
13 The Viennese Musical Clock 2:19
14 Örzse’s Love Song: Hogyan tudtál rózsám
3:15
15 Chicken Song: Hej két tikom 3:42
Örzse
16 Soldiers’ Chorus: Ébresztö férfikar
5:51
Act 3: The Battle
17 Entry of the French 1:55
18 Entry of Napoleon 1:33
19 Funeral March 2:21
20 Napoleon’s Song: Oh, te vén sü-lü-lü 1:48
21 Gipsy Music 1:07
22 Bombazine’s Song: Hagyj békét, viaskodó, óh!
1:19
23 Song of the Hussar: A jó lovas katonának 4:27
Háry, chorus
CD 4 [73:07]
Act 4: The Imperial Palace in Vienna
1 Duet with chorus: Gyújtottam gyertyát völegénynek
5:12
Empress, Marie-Louise
2 Entry of the Emperor 3:19
3 Entry & Song of the Princess: Á, bé, cé,
dé 2:18
Children’s choir
4 Exit of the Princess 2:18
5 Örzse’s Song: Szegény vagyok, szegénynek
születtem 3:41
6 Háry’s Song: Felszántom a császár
udvarát 2:48
7 Finale: Szegény derék magyar nép 9:56
8 Minuetto serio 6:35
9 Ballet Music 5:32
10 Hungarian Rondo 8:35
Psalmus Hungaricus, op.13
11 Mikoron Dávid nagy búsultában 8:04
12 Keserüségem annyi nem volna 4:22
13 Te azért lelkem, gondolatodat 4:12
14 Igaz vagy Uram ítéletedben 6:26
Philharmonia Hungarica/Antal
Doráti CD 1-2 CD 4 (Psalmus) 
