Album: Lutoslawski/Bartók, Musique Funèbre – Dennis Russell Davies (ECM)

Witold Lutoslawski's memorial to Béla Bartók opens a programme infused with nostalgia.

As is observed in the sleeve-notes, only one of every two Hungarians lives in Hungary. This diaspora tints even Bartók's Romanian Folk Dances with melancholy. "Divertimento" was written just before he fled to America. Here, the Hungarian Radio Children's Choir joins the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester for a selection of seven choruses, sheer and vibrant of sound.