Zoltán Kocsis recital

January 10, 2011 4:37 PM

Part one: Beethoven - Piano sonata No. 27 in E minor, op. 90, Part two: Schubert - Piano sonata No. 7 in E minor, D.566, Part three: Piano sonata, Sz. 80.

And (link-invertedness for playful appearance)
Part four: Kurtág - Játékok (részletek) (Games (excerpts))
Prelúdium és valcer C-ben (Prelude and Waltz in C)
Felhangjáték (Playing with Overtones (4))
Virág az ember (Flowers We Are, Frail Flowers)
Keringő (Waltz)
Perpetuum mobile on glissandi only
...és mégegyszer: Virág az ember (...And Once More: Flowers We Are...)
...a csillag is virág... (...Flowers Also the Stars)
Hommage á Petrovics
Hommage á Szervánszky: Csend (Silence)
Csomók (Knots (2))
Verés (Beating)
Sirató (Dirge (2))
Antifona fiszben (Antiphony in F sharp)
Korál - Rajeczky Benjamin 80. születésnapjára (Chorale for Benjamin Rajeczky's 80th birthday)
Hommage á Ferenc Farkas (2): Foszlányok egy kolinda emlékképből (Scarps of a Colinda Melody)

Five: Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody No. 5 in E minor, S.244
Liszt - Les Jeux d'eau á la Villa d'Este, S.163 No. 4

Six: Liszt - Sunt lacrymae rerum, S.163 No. 5
Liszt - Csárdás Macabre, S.224

Seven: Bartók - Gyerekeknek, Sz. 42 (részletek) (For children (Excerpts)
No. 1: Játszó gyermekek (Children at Play)
No. 2: Gyermekdal (Children's Song)
No. 3: Quasi adagio
No. 4: Párnatánc (Pillow Dance)
No. 5: Játék (Game)
No. 10: Gyermektánc (Children's Dance)
No. 13: Ballada (Ballade)
No. 14: Allegretto
No. 15: Allegro moderato
No. 18: Katonadal (Solider's Song)
No. 20: Bordal (Drinking Song)
No. 21: Allegro robostu


Someone uploaded this a few days ago on Youtbe. Kocsis videos are relatively rare - he's magical, especially in Hungarian music...and his programming is always special.
This is an entire recital from La Roque d'Anthéron, 29 June 2002.

Tl;dlisten: check out at least part seven; those Bartok pieces for children are absolutely adorable.

posted by Namlit (12 comments total)

Well darn. Part three is Bartók's piano Sonata. Have fun anyway.
posted by Namlit at 4:38 PM on January 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Wow. Thank you thank you thank you. Especially for Part 3. You can get a lot of things out of Bartók - burlesque pornographic squishiness, graceful menace, tart beauty - but Kocsis is the only pianist I know who brings out all of Bartók's personalities in turn.
posted by voronoi at 5:05 PM on January 10, 2011

Well darn. Part three is Bartók's piano Sonata.

Roll over Bartók
and tell Ligeti the news
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:33 PM on January 10, 2011

Bring it on.
posted by ovvl at 5:50 PM on January 10, 2011

thank you for this.
posted by ltracey at 5:55 PM on January 10, 2011

especially in Hungarian music
i.e. Liszt's hungarian rhapsody #5. There's a ton of lovely jazz coming from his well disciplined rubato. This is lovely and rare, as many performers go for bombast, rather than sit back and savour the harmonics in Liszt.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 6:16 PM on January 10, 2011

0especially in Hungarian music

i.e. Liszt's hungarian rhapsody #5. There's a ton of lovely jazz coming from his well disciplined rubato.

And let's not forget where it all comes from in the first place!

Now I'm gonna go consult my Hungarian phrase book.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:48 PM on January 10, 2011

How is his name pronounced?
posted by allelopath at 8:13 PM on January 10, 2011

I listened to the Beethoven, Schubert, and Kurtag.

I liked the sensitive and imaginative phrasing on the Beethoven and Schubert.

The Kurtag was also good. That last Jatekok - Hommage á Ferenc Farkas - gets to me. You're supposed to play it mostly with your two index fingers to give it the sound of bells (if I remember right). There's some haunting nostalgia going on there and Kocsis tapped into it.

Thanks for the post.
posted by airing nerdy laundry at 8:40 PM on January 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Thanks for the phrase "haunting nostalgia." That's exactly it.
posted by Namlit at 4:17 AM on January 11, 2011

Listening now; thanks very much!

> How is his name pronounced?

[ˈzoltaːn ˈkoʧiʃ]
ZOL-tahn KOH-chish
posted by languagehat at 5:40 AM on January 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Bartók FTMFW.
posted by pjaust at 1:51 PM on January 12, 2011