Bartók: Piano Pieces, Vol. 7

Featuring

Jenő Jandó
Béla Bartók

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Performer Biography

Jenő Jandó, the pianist on this album, has won several piano competitions, including first prize in the 1973 Hungarian Piano Concours and a chamber music prize at the 1977 Sydney International Piano Competition.

Composer Biography

Béla Bartók's early piano pieces, including the Three Piano Pieces and Scherzo on this album, were heavily influenced by Johannes Brahms, both directly and through his mentor Ernő Dohnányi.

Compositional Technique

The first of Bartók's Fourteen Bagatelles uniquely requires the performer to contend with two different key signatures simultaneously: four sharps in the right hand and four flats in the left.

Notable Performances

It took a Czech conductor, Václav Talich, and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra to persuade Hungarians of Bartók's greatness through a powerful performance of his Dance Suite in Budapest in 1925.

Critical Reception

The composer Béla Bartók's Fourteen Bagatelles were considered "something really new" by Ferruccio Busoni, a distinguished Italian composer and pianist.

Critical Reception

Despite being valued by international composers like Vaughan Williams and Stravinsky, Bartók's music was initially dismissed in his native Hungary as 'un-Hungarian activities'.