I'd like to thank all the "musicians" below who replied to my comment 3 years ago. What wonderful comments they are. Everyone's learnt so much from them. Indicative of the 90% of completely tone deaf people who subscribe to You Tube.
Well, jolly exhilarating, I'd call it! And congratulations to Pappano for bringing Martinu to Rome - his wonderful 1st cello concerto recently got a showing there too - and the notoriously stuffy Italian audiences, for whom even Sibelius is a little too revolutionary.
1:03 First movement: Allegro non troppo 7:02 Second movement: Adagio 17:01 Third movement: Allegro 23:12 Applause 26:03 Encore: "The Swan" from "Carnival of the Animals" by Camille Saint Saens (original 2-piano and cello version)
1:04 is a good place to start. ... The Labèque sisters, Katia (born 11 March 1950) and Marielle (born 6 March 1952), are an internationally known French piano duo .....Katia was formerly married to English guitarist John McLaughlin and she was also a member of his band in the early 1980s.
B. Martinu: American by adoption. It is amazing how within his neoclassical composing style, there ticks an American heart that bristles with energy, openness of spirit, and a revolutionary impulse to push the frontiers of his music. I love his energy, his sense of melody, and virtuosity of composition style. He can write a simple melody but prefers the richness of texture bi-tonalism that allows his music to exude richness and complexity!! He is the greatest of composers who is definitely underrated, but not to me!!
By coincidence i just found this superlative performance on another channel so have commented & favorited already!Just would like to add that,in my view,overall,this work has never sounded so great.Everything one desires: precision,clarity,weight,rythm,color.. soloists,orch&conductor in 1000%total commitment.The Girls at their passionate best&Pappano is fantastic.Martinu would have been stunned to hear what he'd created.I think i'll favorite this anyway as it's in one continuous vid...Thanks!
Just listened thru to the end;only reinforcing my high opinion,but also now hearing the encore. What a lovely & generous idea to ask the 1st cello to play "Le Cygne"in its original 2piano version, a balm after the spine-tingling concerto. Definitely favorited and will be often listened to!
I'm sorry Stanciulescu how can you berate two world class concert pianists as I said earlier if you can play this better then please be my guest and demonstrate this with any orchestra of you chosing I'd lay bets that you wouldn't do much better than the Labeque's. I think if I was you I'd keep those thoughts to yourself just appreciate a truely great piece by the Orchestral Voice of Twenthieth Centuary Classical Music! This is just about as good as it gets my Man.
While everybody's entitled to their opinion, I'm guessing you're either a troll or just plain clueless. This music is incredibly demanding to put together, and that's not even taking into account the technical difficulty. The soloists and the orchestra do an exceptional job at both. Taking into account that they probably did this on (at the most) 2 or 3 rehearsals is remarkable.
What utter Tosh! These Gals can seriously interpret this piece. They may not be the Czech Philharmonic. I for one would aspire to play like these two sisters who justifiably are world fameous are you? If you are able to play this utterly sublime peice as well as these two could you please demonstrate this?
I believe nobody can doubt the commitment of all concerned but the performance really does not do this incredible exhilarating and complex score justice. It would have demanded a couple of additional rehearsals to begin with and a more profound understanding of Martinus idiom.
@@BritinIsrael I have actually heard a number of better renderings of his Concerto and could recommend any of the three the couple Reding-Piette did a long time ago or one with another wife and husband team Lejsek and Lejskova and the Brno Philharmonic.
As much as I adore this composer's music, I believe that his failure to gain the recognition he undoubtedly deserves lies within his construction. Most of his works contain their finest moments in the first movement. Here is a classic example. Sadly, people remember a piece by what they hear last. Martinu's music tends to taper away during performance and the latter stages are rarely as good as the former. The symphonies, concertos and chamber music are all guilty of this. Such a pity as he really was a wonderful artist.
this simple minded hypothesis just doesn't hold true, whatever the final evaluation of Martinu's music might be. There are many of his works where the final movement is the summit of development - as in the 3rd Symphony for example. Your comment suggests you don't get this music.
