Parallel Lives - Works by Ernst von Dohnányi and Béla Bartók for flute and piano Szabolcs Szilágyi, László Borbély

• Ernst von Dohnanyi (1877 - 1960): Aria for Flute and Piano Op. 48. No. 1:
• 1Dohnanyi: Aria for flute and piano Op. 48. No. 105:18
• Passacaglia for Flute Solo Op. 48. No. 2:
• 2Dohnanyi: Passacaglia for flute solo Op. 48. No. 2     08:51
• Bela Bartók (1881 - 1945): Suite Paysanne Hongroise:
• 3Bartók: Suite Paysanne Hongroise - Rubato (Megkötöm lovamat)00:55
• 4Bartók: Suite Paysanne Hongroise - Andante (Kit virágom rózsát adott)     01:52
• 5Bartók: Suite Paysanne Hongroise - Poco rubato ( Aj, meg kell a búzának érni)    00:33
• 6Bartók: Suite Paysanne Hongroise - Andante (Kék nefelejcs ráhajlott a vállamra)    01:04
• 7Bartók: Suite Paysanne Hongroise - Scherzo. Allegro (Feleségem olyan tiszta)    00:44
• 8Bartók: Suite Paysanne Hongroise - Allegro (Arra gyere, amőrre én)    00:50
• 9Bartók: Suite Paysanne Hongroise - Allegretto (Fölmentem a szilvafára)    00:41
• 10Bartók: Suite Paysanne Hongroise - Allegretto (Erre kakas, erre tyúk)    00:16
• 11Bartók: Suite Paysanne Hongroise - L’istesso tempo (Zöld erdőben a prücsök)     00:51
• 12Bartók: Suite Paysanne Hongroise - Assai moderato (Nem vagy legény)     00:48
• 13Bartók:: Suite Paysanne Hongroise - Allegretto (Beteg asszony, fáradt legény)    00:29
• 14Bartók: Suite Paysanne Hongroise - Poco più vivo (Sári lovam a fakó)    00:28
• 15Bartók: Suite Paysanne Hongroise - Allegro (Összegyűltek, összegyűltek az izsapi lányok)    00:31
• 16Bartók: Suite Paysanne Hongroise - Allegro (Duda nóta)     01:30
• Ernst von Dohnanyi: Sonata Op. 21:
• 17Dohnanyi: Sonata Op. 21 - Allegro appassionato      06:57
• 18Dohnanyi: Sonata Op. 21 - Allegro ma con tenerezza04:37
• 19Dohnanyi: Sonata Op. 21 - Vivace assai     06:56
• Bela Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances:
• 20Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances - Bot tánc / Jocul cu bâtă (Stick Dance)      01:24
• 21Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances - Brâul (Sash Dance)     00:32
• 22Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances - Topogó / Pe loc (In One Spot)      01:05
• 23Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances - Bucsumí tánc / Buciumeana (Dance from Bucsum)     01:27
• 24Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances - Román polka / Poarga Românească (Romanian Polka)     00:29
• 25Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances - Aprózó / Mărunțel (Fast Dance)     00:54
• Trois Chansons Hongroises Populaires/Három csíkmegyei népdal:
• 26Bartók: Három csíkmegyei népdal/Trois Chansons Hongroises Populaires - Rubato01:19
• 27Bartók: Három csíkmegyei népdal/Trois Chansons Hongroises Populaires - L’istesso tempo01:00
• 28Bartók: Három csíkmegyei népdal/Trois Chansons Hongroises Populaires - Poco vivo00:44
• Total Runtime53:05

Info for Parallel Lives - Works by Ernst von Dohnányi and Béla Bartók for flute and piano

Listening to this album is a unique experience because the recording offers a selection of flute and piano pieces of two worldrenowned Hungarian composers: Béla Bartók (1881−1945) and Ernst von Dohnányi (1877−1960).

The names of Bartók and Dohnányi may seem unusual in a flute and piano programme, since although the latter did have some interest in the instrument in the last years of his life, Bartók did not compose pieces for solo flute or any significant chamber music where the flute was originally included. There might be several explanations for this. Flutist Szabolcs Szilágyi, who formulated the concept of this CD and is also one of the recording musicians, believes that although the German goldsmith Theobald Böhm (1794−1881), patented his new invention revolutionising flute playing already in 1847 1, for various reasons it had not yet become prevalent at the Budapest Academy of Music (Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music, at present: Liszt Academy of Music) where the two composers studied at the turn of the century. Furthermore, the Viennese flutes – also commonly referred to in professional circles as simple system flutes – used in Budapest and in German speaking areas were less suitable for performing complex chamber music or solo pieces, both in terms of their sound capabilities/potential and technical possibilities. Another explanation for Bartók's and Dohnányi’s reluctance may be that neither composer had friendships with remarkable flutists who could have inspired their work, despite the fact that the professor of the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music as well as the first flutist of the Royal Hungarian Opera House was Adolph Burose (1858−1921). The flutist of German origin was also a much sought-after international soloist and the author of the first Hungarian language flute school, the two-volume Die Neue Grosse Flötenschule2 (the exact date of its publication is unknown). We should not be misled by the German title: the book was published as the study material of the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music with German and Hungarian instructions. Both were official languages of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, and it was only natural that Burose wrote the instructions in his mother tongue. It is also likely that he spoke little or no Hungarian, because in the preface to the flute school he thanks his student, Dr August Alcsuti3 for the Hungarian translation. Burose was extremely broad-minded as it turns out from his work, which includes the fingering chart of both the Viennese and the Böhm systems4 , that he preferred the former. He even recommends specific exercises to practice the fingering of the Böhm system, which implies that he considered the Böhm system a deviation from the “normal instrument”. At this point, however, we have come full circle as we are back to square one, namely the restrictions due to the sound character and level of technical development of simple system flutes.

Mr. Szabolcs Szilágyi at the Sir James Galway Flute Festival 2012, Weggis, Switzerland. "Mr. Szilágyi’s playing of Ernst von Dohnányi : Passacaglia for flute solo OP. 48. No. 2, was an amazing display of complete mastery of the flute. He played this most difficult piece with a perfect technique and a deep understanding of the music. His stage presence charmed the audience who gave him a well deserved standing ova:on.” (Sir James Galway)

Szabolcs Szilágyi, flute
László Borbély, piano

Szabolcs Szilágyi
graduated from the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. He then went to London to continue postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Music with Susan Milan. Meanwhile, invited by the maestro, he attended Sir James Galway’s international seminar in Weggis, Switzerland, on several occasions. Szabolcs Szilágyi has been a member of Concerto Budapest – formerly Hungarian Symphony Orchestra – since 1995. Szilágyi played at the Frankfurt Chamber Opera, and was a regular member of the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of pianist/conductor Tamás Vásáry and later of world renowned conductor Ádám Fischer. As an orchestral musician, he has worked with distinguished artists such as, among others, conductors Kobayashi Ken Ichiro, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Thierry Fischer, Yuri Simonov, Krzysztof Penderecki, János Fürst, Gerhard Markson, Nikolaj Znaider, Tan Dun, Gábor Takács- Nagy, Michael Halász, Zoltán Kocsis, Heinz Holliger, and soloists Gidon Kremer, Sir James Galway, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Petra Lang, Angela Hewitt, Isabelle Faust, Vadim Repin, Barbara Hendricks, Boris Berezovsky, Juliane Banse, Gilles Apap, Andrea Rost, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Angela Gheorghiu, László Polgár, Olga Kern, Jose Cura, Bobby McFerrin, Ildikó Komlósi, Anna Vinnitskaya, Branford Marsalis, Steven Isserlis, Khatia Buniatishvili. Szabolcs Szilágyi has toured in nearly all European countries, as well as Russia, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, the Middle East and the USA. He has made TV, DVD and Radio recordings, as well as CD recordings for Hungaroton, BMC, Teldec/Warner and Naxos. Since 2017 Concerto Budapest has recorded exclusively for Tacet Musikproduction of Germany.

László Borbély
He was born in 1984. In 2007 he got his diploma with honours (Master of Music in Performance and Teaching) then his doctoral degree (Doctor of Liberal Arts) at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music Budapest, where he is an assistant professor of Piano Faculty. He played concerts at international festivals such Collegium Musicum Pommersfelden (Germany), Encuentro de Música y Academia de Santander (Spain), International Holland Music Sessions in Bergen (The Netherlands), TCU/Cliburn Institute in Fort Worth (USA), FestivaLiszt in Grottammare (Italy), Liszt Festival in Raiding (Austria), Liszt Festival in Bayreuth (Germany), International Bartók Festival Ankara (Turkey), International Conservatory Week Festival Saint Petersburg (Russia), Festival der Klänge in Vienna (Austria), CAFe Budapest Festival, Budapest Spring Festival (Budapest), Beethoven Festival Martonvásár (Hungary), etc. He won numerous prizes at national and international competitions. He won 2nd Prize and a special prize for the best performance of the set piece  at the EPTA International Piano Competition in Osijek (Croatia) in 2001. In 2002, he won the Yamaha Scholarship Award and also two 2nd and one 3rd prizes in different divisions of the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition where he won two special prizes too: prize for the „most artistic performance” and a special prize of the American Liszt Society. He had lessons with Dmitrij Bashkirov, Christopher Elton, Noel Flores, Jan-Marisse Huizing, Zoltán Kocsis, György Kurtág, Claudio-Martinez Mehner, Piotr Paleczny, Murray Perrahia, Menahem Pressler, Ferenc Rados, András Schiff, Elisso Virsaladze, Mikhail Voskresensky, Rita Wagner, etc.

Booklet for Parallel Lives - Works by Ernst von Dohnányi and Béla Bartók for flute and piano