From what I can tell, this Classico release has more of Kodály’s chamber works for cello and violin in one package than anything else in the catalogue. This performance of the Duo for Violin and Cello Op. 7 (mislabeled as a duo for violin and piano on the back liner) is the best one I’ve heard, easily surpassing the Chandos version with Elena and Yuri Turovsky. Intonation is not really an issue here (it was something of a distraction with the Turovskys), and there is a freedom of movement that makes the music breathe easier. Anton Kontra and Niels Ullner don’t quite have the authority of Janos Starker and Josef Gingold, available on Delos, but there is plenty to admire here nonetheless. Kontra displays a natural feel for the rhythms and shapes of the melodies, and Ullner rides his coattails with style. The same goes for the rarely heard Adagio of 1910 for violin and piano, this time with pianist Anne Øland following Kontra’s lead. Ullner also is very good with the Cello Sonata Op. 4. All of this is featured in a clear, dry, no-nonsense acoustic.
The only real problem with this release is the second disc, which has only the Op. 8 Sonata for Solo Cello. This work is a real virtuoso tour-de-force; very few cellists are really able to handle the supreme technical and musical challenges Kodály presents. When done properly, the cello can sing and dance, explode with the power of an orchestra, and sigh like a gypsy fiddle. Pieter Wispelwey is miraculous on his Globe recording, and is nearly the same in his retake for Channel Classics. Starker is, of course, in total command of the piece on his old EMI date (licensed for the Delos disc with the Duo). Here however, although Ullner tries mightily, and obviously has a good grasp of the music, his technique is just not up to the extremes, and his intonation fails him in the stratospheric runs of the first movement and in the double trills of the third. In addition, he inexplicably omits a full page (mm.272-324) of the third movement. So, in sum, the first disc on its own is certainly worth a recommendation, but as a set it falls short.
