Despite his outstanding and prolific contribution to film music, Rozsa was as much a composer for the concert hall as he was for the cinema. Quite a number of his classical works have been recorded, but this album highlights his writing for violin, cello and orchestra. The Concerto for Violin and Orchestra opens the album, with solo violin performed by Robert McDuffie. I must admit that although my Rozsa collection isn't tremendously wide ranging, I didn't detect a huge amount of similarity between the style here and his film music. There is a strong folk/gypsy quality to the writing. Indeed, the notes mention that Rozsa researched Hungarian folk music (much in the way the Bartok did), although the notes say that Rozsa doesn't directly quote from any particular piece, but it does sum up the fire and passion of native Hungarian music. The writing contains a well balanced blend of violin and orchestra along with a few longer cadenzas for the solo instrument. All is played with fiery vigour by McDuffie and matched by an equally dynamic performance from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Yoel Levi.
Of all the string instruments, I don't think there is one that has a more beautiful tone than the Cello (for me at least) and Rozsa here presents a tour-de-force for the instrument. It is perhaps surprising to note that Rozsa doesn't simply exploit the cello's beautiful tone, but actually puts in some more taxing and fast paced material; there are several cadenzas which involve swapping from arco to pizzicato (bowed to plucked) from one bar to another, on top of the difficulty of the actual playing to add on to these additional technical challenges. Lynn Harrell gives a brilliant performance that is both beautiful and dynamic.
The Theme and Variations for Violin, Cello ad Orchestra is adapted as a stand alone piece from a a work called Sinfonia concertante which was originally written to accommodate the egos of the two instrumentalists for whom he composed the work. However, it was suggested that this movement would make a good work on its own and as it is presented here, I am certainly inclined to agree. This perhaps suggests, albeit quite subtley, Rozsa's film music more than the other works featured. The main theme of the piece echoes King of Kings (of all things) and is given seven variations with differing moods, but each punctuated by the cello and violin weaving in and out of each other and the orchestra. The final variant is quite wistful and brings proceedings to an idyllic close.
Of course these being straight concert works, it is difficult to be too explicit in my judgements, however Rozsa's writing is hugely intricate in every respect, the deployment of the solo instruments around the orchestra is absolutely astounding. The performances are all flawless and the recording captures every nuance of instruments, with the soloists prominent, without being too close miked. Fans of 20th Century music will certainly find them an exciting addition to the repetoire of composer such as Bartok and Kodaly and fans of Rozsa will discover that he was perhaps even more gifted a concert composer than a film composer, something that is almost inconceivable, but the technical acumen is simply astonishing. Unreservedly recommended.
Rating ~ 
Total Time ~ 71:48