Violinist and violist
Nurit Stark
sustains interest here through nearly 80 minutes of solo music, an impressive feat in itself. She has rigorous intonational precision and a rich tone in the lower strings that are emphasized in
Gyoergy Ligeti
's
Sonata for viola solo
. However, what's even more interesting on this
BIS
release is the program, which traces several generations of influences, in all but one case flowing from teacher to student. (The exception is
Peter Eoetvoes
, whose early career was closely associated with
Ligeti
, although he was not actually his student.) The annotations also make the intriguing point that all these composers decided to leave Hungary at some point. The program is exceptionally well constructed, proceeding from a general theme -- the encounter between influences from modernism and those from Eastern European folk music -- to the specific takes of each composer as styles evolved and individual creativity was brought to bear. Most interesting, and hardly heard as often as it should be, is
Eoetvoes
'
Adventures of the Dominant Seventh Chord
, where the titular sonority never resolves to its tonic but is instead displaced in a variety of ways by tonalities from the work of folk music. It's a novel work, rigorous yet accessible to anyone.
Bartok
, his student
Sandor Veress
, and
all incorporate Baroque music into the mix, in different ways, as a stand-in for traditional tonality. The overall effect is that of a colloquy between a group of musicians with common interests, something challenging to pull off in the medium of a chamber recital.
Stark
succeeds brilliantly here. ~ James Manheim