Search - Zoltan Kodaly, Janos Ferencsik, Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra :: Kodály: Harry Janos Suite/ Concerto for Orchestra

Kodaly wrote very little orchestral music over the course of his long life. He was best known as composer of choral music. Janos Ferencsik, the great Hungarian conductor of his generation, was a lifelong proponent of Kodaly's music. He conducted all of the orchestral works, and not just the popular Háry János Suite and Galanta Dances. Of course, he did the famous stuff very well too, as this performance of Háry János proves. But he also championed the rarely heard Concerto for Orchestra, a charming and vivacious composition that has failed to reach an international public for the simple reason that it can't compete with Bartók's similarly titled masterpiece. Well guess what? Kodály's came first, and as you can hear for yourself, it's worth the attention. --David Hurwitz