NIKOS SKALKOTTAS (1904-1949): Concerto for 2 Violins and Orchestra, Concertino for 2 Pianos and Orchestra, Nocturnal Amusement for Xylophone and Orchestra.

Description: The double violin concerto is a 1999 orchestration by Kostas Demertzis of a work left in short score by the composer in 1944. Although dodecaphonic, this work is notable for being the first Greek composition to use a rebetiko song (in the variation-form second movement), a type of music frowned upon at the time in the same way jazz was in the first decades of the 20th century. Lasting 38 minutes, this is a major work to have restored to us and, as collectors of Skalkottas know, there is nothing doctrinaire about his use of the twelve-tone technique and certainly it doesn't preclude the simultaneous use of tonal material. The little Concertino of 1935 is more strictly dodecaphonic and the even smaller (3 and a half minutes) xylophone piece is an attractive little surprise filler. Georgios Demertzis, Simos Papanas (violins), Maria Asteriadou, Nikolaos Samaltanos (pianos), Dimitris Desyllas (xylophone), Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra; Vassilis Christopoulos.