Não vou reescrever o que já está pronto sobre este espetacular CD de um pianista que aprendeu a tocar Bartók com o próprio. Atenção: a gravação é de 1955, mas a qualidade do som parece digital.

Texto de Melvin Yap

Bartók is probably most famous for his Concerto for Orchestra and his piano and violin concertos. As a consequence, many of the works on this disc will probably be unfamiliar to most listeners out there.

This recording belongs to DG’s Dokumente series and as such, is not a recent recording. It was recorded in 1955 in monophonic sound. However, since the whole disc is a piano recital, the monophonic sound isn’t that serious a drawback.

Who was Andor Foldes anyway? From the documentation supplied with the disc, I gathered that he had quite an illustrious bevy of piano teachers. He studied the piano with Ernst von Dohnányi and first met Bartók at the age of fifteen in 1929. They later became close friends until Bartók’s death. His intimate relationship with the composer himself hints that he probably is eminently qualified to interpret Bartók’s work and this is borne out by the quality of the recital.
The Mikrokosmos are teaching pieces that range from beginners’ pieces to works of exuberant virtuosity. Foldes is never condescending and he invests these pieces with detail and meticulous precision. I believe that Foldes hardly deviates from the strict dynamics and tempo markings that Bartó The same approach can be seen in the other pieces too. Rather than playing these works coldly and mechanically, as some pianists are apt to do, Foldes strives for emotion and expression. He is technically brilliant but never allows the technical aspect of a work to overshadow its intrinsic artistic qualities. This is one of the most atmospheric recordings I’ve ever heard and it is not hard to imagine the pianist playing right before you.

There’s plenty of exciting moments in this disc, for example in the last part of the Suite Op.14. Percussive, almost overflowing in a kaleidoscope of sound but always coherent and imaginative, the playing is a delight. Nor are the slower parts especially boring. Foldes has a way of mulling over the slower bits in an interesting sort of way so that you are enlightened rather than irked.

Despite its vintage, the sound of this disc is perfectly acceptable and probably acoustically superior to many of our so-called digital recordings. This is not a disc for everybody but it should be rewarding for any serious collector of Bartók or piano music.


Andor Foldes - Peças para Piano

1. Mikrokosmos Sz 107 (1926,1932-39)- Band V (Auswahl) 8:02
2. Mikrokosmos Sz 107 (1926,1932-39)- Band VI (Auswahl) 17:45
3. Suite op.14 Sz 62 (1916) 8:41
4. Rumanische Volkstanze Sz56 (1915) – Danças Populares Romenas 4:25
5. Sonate fur Klavier (1926) 12:39
6. Im Freien (1926) 13:30
7. Sonatine uber Themen der Bauern von Transsylvanien (1915) – Sonatina sobre temas camponeses da Transilvânia 3:48
8. Allegro barbaro (1911) 2:29

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