BELLISSIMO BARTÓK
Was Béla Bartók his own worst enemy? He composed his fiendishly difficult Piano Concerto No. 2, in which the world-premiere piano soloist was to be Béla Bartók himself. The net result established him not only as prime modernist/technician/theoretician, ahead of his time composing thus in 1930-31, but also as a paragon super keyboard soloist. It was a Béla Bartók weekend, with the S.F. Symphony in action under Esa-Pekka Salonen, and a block away at Herbst Theatre his chamber music as…