Javier Perianes / Münchner Philharmoniker / Pablo Heras-Casado BARTÓK Concerto for Orchestra - Piano Concerto No. 3

Neither the disillusionment that set in after his exile to the United States nor his declining health stopped Bartók from fulfilling his commission for the Concerto for Orchestra nor from writing the Third Piano Concerto, his final work, intended to secure his wife’s future. Hence his gloomy circumstances led to two masterpieces (and gained him a long-awaited American reputation). They are magnificently served here by Javier Perianes and the musicians of the Münchner Philharmoniker under the direction of Pablo Heras-Casado.
...The Concerto for Orchestra was composed in a single burst of inspiration during an unexpected remission of his leukaemia, from August to October 1943. It is Bartók's only orchestral work on so large a scale. Fascinating both for its sonic hedonism and for the virtuosity it demands from each section of the orchestra (which justifies the choice of this title rather than ‘symphony’), the work sums up the composer’s achievement...

...The Piano Concerto no.3, the only keyboard work that Bartók did not compose for himself to play, has a less gruelling solo part than its two predecessors. Here he forsakes ostinatos, repeated notes and batteries of chords in favour of singing melodies. Tonality is clearly asserted (the key is E), and triads, octaves and unisons abound, as if sending out reassuring signals...