Béla Bartók: Sonatas for violin and piano Márta Ábrahám & László Borbély

• Béla Bartók (1881 - 1945): First Sonata for violin and piano, BB84:
• 1 Bartók: First Sonata for violin and piano, BB84: Allegro appassionato 12:47
• 2 Bartók: First Sonata for violin and piano, BB84: Adagio 09:42
• 3 Bartók: First Sonata for violin and piano, BB84: Allegro 10:18
• Second Sonata for violin and piano BB85:
• 4 Bartók: Second Sonata for violin and piano BB85: Molto moderato 08:48
• 5 Bartók: Second Sonata for violin and piano BB85: Allegretto 12:08
• Total Runtime 53:43

Info for Béla Bartók: Sonatas for violin and piano

Béla Bartók’s Sonatas for Violin and Piano are among the most profound and expressive works not only in chamber music but in the history of music. These works are suggestive self-confessions that carry the late romantic spirit of Bartók’s music – evidenced by the stunning virtuosity of both instruments – but are also unsurpassably modern and daring. The composer’s relentless self-reflection sheds light on the most hidden stirrings of the human soul, universal emotions made palpable through myriad musical gestures.

Bartók is also a dreamer of reality: he takes his listeners into a trance-like state, pushing the limits of the human nervous system to a kind of self-analysis, a psychological abyss. The extreme colours and almost hallucinogenic chords of his music go beyond the art of the French Impressionists. His use of form draws deeply from the classical style, while his voicing recalls the influence of the baroque, most notably Bach.

Bartók’s unique musical world, illuminated by the lantern of a genius, can perhaps be said without exaggeration to be a musical mediation of the constant re-creation of the world. This music captivates the listener again and again.

Márta Ábrahám, violin
László Borbély, piano

Márta Ábrahám
Versatile musician: Bach researcher, violinist, chamber musician, concertmaster, teacher. He graduated Summa cum Laude in 1996 from the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, as a student of Dénes Kovács and Ferenc Rados. He later studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Ruggiero Ricci and later with David Takenko at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

Between 1984 and 1994 he won all the violin competitions in Hungary and was awarded medals and special prizes in several international competitions. He has made numerous CD and radio recordings and premiered several contemporary works, which have been enthusiastically praised by many music critics. He has released five solo CDs, including one on Philips Classics as soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He has performed in North and South America, China, South Korea, most major European cities and is a regular guest artist at prestigious international music festivals.

As a soloist, he has performed in world-famous concert halls such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Palais de Beaux - Arts Bruxelles and the Philharmonie Berlin.

As a baroque violinist he played with the Orfeo Orchestra, Wiener Akademie, Anima Eterna, Clemencic Consort and early music ensembles.

For many years he led the Concerto Armonico, a chamber orchestra playing period instruments, and was awarded the Gramophone Prize in 2014.

Currently, he is Professor of Violin at the Liszt Academy of Music and Artistic Director of the early music ensemble Ábrahám Consort.

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