Bartok and Kodaly - SCO - The Observer

As the Edinburgh Festival opens, this sleek tartan enterprise shows just how close Hungarian music is to Scottish hearts. Recorded in Edinburgh's Usher Hall and Greyfriars Kirk, to Linn's habitually high standards, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra again proves itself one of the most stylish of compact bands in carefully balanced repertoire. Festival favourite Sir Charles Mackerras, something of an expert in this field, has never before recorded Bartók's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste, the star turn on this ravishing disc, coupled with his Divertimento for Strings . A natural curtainraiser is Kodály's Galantai tancok (Dances of Galanta), equally inventive in opening up bright new ranges of orchestral sound.