Kodály: Duo Op. 7, Sonata for Solo Cello Op. 8 - Janos Starker, Elmira Darvarova

Urlicht AudioVisual is proud to release for the first time a live recording of Kodály’s formidable Duo for Violin and Cello featuring one of the greatest cellists in history, János Starker, with Bulgarian violinist Elmira Darvarova – a performance that took place days before her daring escape from behind the Iron Curtain in 1986. This recording is coupled with a new remastering of Starker’s landmark 1950 recording of Kodály’s Sonata for Solo Cello. Both recordings have been remastered in HD audio.

“Shortly after our joint performances of the Kodaly Duo in Sofia and in Varna, I was able to leave Bulgaria in a daring escape, made possible by an administrative mistake. The communist passport officials erroneously had granted me exit documents for traveling to Germany, but despite quickly realizing their mistake and attempting to call me back to their office, they were just a bit late in their timing, and I managed to slip out of the country. From Germany I easily made it to America, where I had been invited to teach at Indiana University, as one of Josef Gingold’s assistants. “

-Elmira Darvarova

Zoltán Kodály
Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7
1 I. Allegro serioso, non troppo 8:19
2 II. Adagio 8:22
3 III. Maestoso e largamente, ma non troppo lento – Presto 9:08

Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8
4 I. Allegro maestoso ma appassionato 8:36
5 II. Adagio (con grand espressione) 9:22
6 III. Allegro molto vivace 9:38

Elmira Darvarova, violin (Op. 7)
János Starker, cello
Tracks 1-3 recorded live, June 19, 1986, during the Sofia Music Weeks Festival
Tracks 4-6 recorded in 1950 in New York; first issued as Period Records SPL-510