Bortkiewicz' Violin Concerto and Cello Concerto

[Ilja]

A while ago I received a recording of Bortkiewicz' Violin and Cello Concertos from a fellow forum member. Since it now seems that these recordings are copyright-free (something with the state and art for the people and all that) we've decided to post them here.

You can click the links below to listen the MP3 files (use right-click to download) in your browser. The Violin Concerto is in three movements, the Cello Concerto in two.

They are Ukranian in origin, but we don't know much about the performers (if you know, please tell us). Recordings aren't great, particularly the Cello Concerto, but good enough to appreciate what fine works these are. The links will remain active for two weeks.

Sergei Bortkiewicz, Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 22
First movement: http://www.archaeopteryx.nl/temp/bort/vc1.mp3
Second movement: http://www.archaeopteryx.nl/temp/bort/vc2.mp3
Third movement: http://www.archaeopteryx.nl/temp/bort/vc3.mp3

Sergei Bortkiewicz, Cello Concerto in C minor, Op. 20
First movement: http://www.archaeopteryx.nl/temp/bort/cc1.mp3
Second movement: http://www.archaeopteryx.nl/temp/bort/cc2.mp3

[Kevin Pearson]

Thanks very much Ilja! I wish they were available in a lossless format like Flac but beggers can't be choosers!

Kevin

[DennisS]

Hello Ilya

I just wanted to give you a huge Thank You for allowing me and indeed all the members of the forum the chance to download both the VC and the CC. I spent this morning listening to both works and loved them!  The sound quality for me was good and in no way distracted me from fully appreciating the beauty of both works.Bortkowiecz now figures on my list of favourite composers and I will be looking out for any and all future releases of his works.

Again, many, many thanks!

[Gareth Vaughan]

Dear Ilja,

Thank you very much for allowing me to hear performances of these marvellously lyrical works. I have a score of the cello concerto, but the VC I did not know at all. Delicious music. Bortkiewicz is so underrated.

[Alan Howe]

Indeed, lovely music. How soon might we expect a CD of them from NMI, Ilja?

[JimL]

That violin concerto is in D Minor, not D Major.  Four years at UCLA and a degree in music weren't wasted on me, guys.  I can tell the difference between minor and major modes in one chord.

[Mark Thomas]

Good for you, Jim.

Many thanks for these delicious works, Ilja. What a tonic they are!

[Jonathan]

Morning All,
Just to say thanks to Ilya for posting links to these fantastic works - the Violin concerto is particularly good.  As always with these things, it leaves me wondering why these works aren't better known?

[HerbieG]

Yes, I was delighted to hear these works as Bortkiewicz is one of my favourite unsung composers - who obviously had good taste as he chose to be born exactly 70 years to the day before I was.  I never suspected that I would ever hear these concertos - nor the Second and Third Piano Concertos - so this past month has yielded rich rewards.

Now, as to the provenence of the recordings of the Violin and Cello Concertos, I suspect that they may be computer-created.  Listening to the Cello Concerto on headphones a couple of days ago, I noticed that the orchestral entries all seemed to enjoy perfect ensemble and the sforzandi were all perfect too.  There was also something about the sound in general - very little, if any, resonance and slightly unnatural, especially the strings.  On the other hand, the soloist seemed more natural - intonation was not always absolutely perfect in the more passionate passages.  Unless anyone has any other ideas, I suspect that the orchestral part was created first and then the cellist dubbed the part on to it.

If I am correct, then I can only admire the person who probably took weeks to do all this work in order that we could hear these hitherto unknown concertos.  Some years back, Mike posted the Cello Concerto and Second Piano Concerto to me on a cassette, in the form of a MIDI re-creation by some Borty devotee.  It was very good to hear these, but the impression was that of the Mighty Wurlizer and while listening I kept getting small change out of my pocket to pay the usherette for a packet of popcorn.  These new versions are infinitely superior.

What do you guys think?

[HerbieG]

...and by the way, the other three composers who share my birthday are also unjustfiably unsung!  They are Zarebski, John Alden Carpenter and Parish-Alvars!  Maybe I was born to be an unsung composer devotee. :-)

[Ilja]

Now, as to the provenence of the recordings of the Violin and Cello Concertos, I suspect that they may be computer-created.  Listening to the Cello Concerto on headphones a couple of days ago, I noticed that the orchestral entries all seemed to enjoy perfect ensemble and the sforzandi were all perfect too.  There was also something about the sound in general - very little, if any, resonance and slightly unnatural, especially the strings.  On the other hand, the soloist seemed more natural - intonation was not always absolutely perfect in the more passionate passages.  Unless anyone has any other ideas, I suspect that the orchestral part was created first and then the cellist dubbed the part on to it.

The only thing I can say with some certainty is that the recordings were certainly not computer-generated. They were made in the Ukraine somewhere in the 1980s (in the case of the Violin Concerto) or before (Cello Concerto). If they WERE computer-generated, the Soviet Union had some amazing tricks up its sleeve after all. Any sense of 'perfection' can therefore be considered a compliment to the Ukranian orchestra(s).

[John Hudock]

Unfortunately the links seem to be dead now.

[JimL]

Well, I finally got my hands on these works, thanks to a fellow Forum member.  The beginning of the violin concerto is instantly memorable, but I'm still assimilating the rest of the works.  The second subject in the first movement of the VC reminded me of something I had heard before.  Turns out to be slightly reminiscent of the second theme in the first movement of the Karlowicz VC.  I think they both start out with the same melodic pattern.  I seem to recall that previously I've mentioned that Bortkiewicz isn't strong on development.  I'll have to give these works more time, but in the violin concerto he appears to use a central contrasting episode of new material rather than a development in the first movement.  The cello concerto is a more sprawling work, which resembles PC 2 in its organization.  I'll have to really familiarize myself with it before I have anything more to say, but they were both excellent works.

[AndrewC]

Sadly, these links are indeed now dead.

Does anybody have a copy of these that they could somehow get to me? I would do just about anything to get my hands on these recordings; Bortkiewicz is one of my favourite composers.

[Ilja]

Hi Guys,

Sorry for deleting the files, but I needed the space. I've restored the links; happy downloading!