And It's Still All Greek To Him

This disk of piano trios and cello works by Nikos Skalkottas augments the disk of orchestral pieces I already have. The performers are Maria Kitsopoulos cello, Maria Asteriadou piano and Georgios Demertzis violin, who all are firmly at home in this repertoire. Skalkottas operated broadly in two idioms; a serial style ( he studied with Schoenberg ) and a folk influenced style relating to his native Greece. The music on this disk reflects those two approaches to some extent, though leaning more towards the atonal. That said, there is nothing that would be at all formidable to those familiar with such other composers from the first half of the 20th century as Bartok, Janacek or Shostakovich. Skalkottas retains his own distinct voice though. The substantial Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello, the Largo for Cello and Piano and the Serenata and Sonatina for Piano and Cello are all atonal works with a similar feel. As the name implies, the brief Tender Melody for Cello and Piano is less hard edged and the wildly rhythmic Bolero for Cello and Piano betrays some of those folk influences which come to the fore on the other extended piece, Eight variations for Piano Trio ( on a Greek Folk Tune ) The BIS record label have done Skalkottas proud but concert programmers sadly continue to fight shy.