Bela Bartok: Concerto For Orchestra – Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra & Karina Canellakis

Karina Canellakis offers the first fruit of her exclusive Pentatone collaboration with a recording of Bartók’s 4 Orchestral Pieces and Concerto for Orchestra, together with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, of which she is the Chief Conductor. The 4 Orchestral Pieces have a strong affinity with the stage works Duke Bluebeard’s Castle and The Wooden Prince, conceived in the same period. The Concerto for Orchestra is one of Bartóks final works, full of folk tunes, and utterly colourful and virtuosic for all the instruments. As such, it’s an ideal piece to showcase the congeniality between the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and its star Chief Conductor. Internationally acclaimed for her emotionally charged performances, technical command and interpretive depth, Karina Canellakis has become one of the most indemand conductors of her generation. She makes her Pentatone debut as Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra that returns to the label after its participation in Gordon Getty’s Beauty Comes Dancing (2018).

This is the Dutch orchestra’s first recording with their new Principal Conductor, and it’s a cracker: Bartók was a key part of Canellakis’s repertoire in her previous career as a violinist, and her long-standing affection for his music resonates loud and clear in performances that balance high adrenaline with a warm lyricism that often gets short-changed in this music. The seldom-recorded Four Pieces come off especially well – not least the fiendish Scherzo, where the precision of the playing in every section is a marvel. — Katherine Cooper, Presto Music, April 2023