Bartok's The Wooden Prince
Thomas Dausgaard and the 麻豆社 SSO perform Bartok's underrated gem of a ballet score, The Wooden Prince, alongside music by Ligeti and, with Stephen Hough, a concerto by Liszt.
Virtuosity, and virtuosic invention, in three works performed by the 麻豆社 Scottish Symphony Orchestra with their chief conductor Thomas Dausgaard.
In his 1968 work, Ramifications, Ligeti carefully and inventively spins individually undulating melodic lines which weave into a sort of sonic textile whose enmeshed surface seems to drift in and out of focus through the piece's eight-minute duration. While in Liszt's Piano Concerto No 2 the soloist, Stephen Hough, is pushed to the limits of human virtuosity and strident dexterity.
And in 1914 the writing of The Wooden Prince revivified a gloomy, though technically adept, Bartok. Although it was successful at time of writing it went on to be somewhat neglected despite its invention and colour. Tonight we have a rare chance to hear a performance of the complete hour-long score in all its deft, assured, brilliance.
Recorded at City Halls, Glasgow
Presented by Kate Molleson
Ligeti: Ramifications
Liszt: Piano Concerto No 2
8.05 Interval
8.25 Part 2
Bartok: The Wooden Prince (complete)
Stephen Hough (piano)
麻豆社 Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Dausgaard (conductor)
