
Bartok's The Wooden Prince
Thomas Dausgaard and the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ 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 ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ 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)
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Dausgaard (conductor)