Rozsa: Three Hungarian Sketches - Hungarian Nocturne

This third Naxos album of Rózsa’s concert works presents music strongly reflective of the composer’s Hungarian roots. In the Rhapsody for Cello, Hungarian melodic contours and themes can be clearly heard as the music changes speed with almost dizzyng speed. Hungarian Sketches is notable for the nocturnal evocation of the countryside in the Pastorale, which is followed by a peasant dance. The events of the 1956 Hungarian uprising had a bearing on the character of Rózsa’s turbulent and angst-filled Concert Overture. The impressionistic Notturno ungherese of 1963 opens with an evocation of the Hungarian countryside at sunset. Mark Kosower, the newly appointed principal cello of the Cleveland Orchestra, has already made one outstanding recording of Hungarian music for cello and piano for Naxos (8.570570).