Magyar Narancs: The Masters Collection: Liszt Ferenc Chamber Orchestra
The mission of Hungaroton’s much-awaited series is to preserve, and pass on musical value, i.e. to make the gold reserve of the history of Hungarian musical interpretation and recording available to listeners in new eras. That means performances that many people do not know as the musicians on the recordings are no longer with us. From that point of view – after the albums presenting the art of György Cziffra, János Ferencsik, the Tátrai String Quartet or Zoltán Kocsis – it is somewhat surprising to see a 3-CD anthology of the Liszt Ferenc Chamber orchestra given that the story of the ensemble continues up to the present day, even if it is almost six decades ago that János Rolla and his fellow musicians lead by their mentor conductor Sándor Frigyes embarked on their joint project; moreover, the group entered a new period as Péter Tfirst, a representative of the young generation assumed leadership.
Although the founding members, most of whom are still with us, have retired, before they did so they handed over their knowledge and their philosophy to their followers. Also, the change, the replacement of members took place gradually taking several years, so the transition was really smooth. The result is continuity of style, and standards. The new orchestra is different from the founding formation, yet it preserves the openness and the maximalism of the predecessors. The old recordings now published anew (with the works of Vivaldi, Corelli, Bach, Händel, Mozart, Haydn, Wagner, Bartók, Szőllősy) share a sense of richness, colourfulness, and enjoyment. Their gestures show no signs of wear proving that the LFCO of the 1970s and 1980s was, and still is a worthy partner of the greatest world stars.
Kristóf Csengery
Source: Magyar Narancs