It's worth pointing out that Csaba Erdelyi's performance of his
realisation of the Bartok Viola concerto, highly praised by Steve Schwartz,
can be obtained from www.concordance.co.nz.  The copyright restrictions
only prevent retail sales outside Australia and New Zealand.

May I second some of Steve's comments?  It is an excellent performance
full of intensity and passion, Erdelyi is one of the finest viola players
around.  However his work in reconstructing the concerto is I think
ground breaking.  it is by far the most convincing of the three versions.
The Serly provided a performing version that has become of course well
established and was done with great sympathy.  However there are, I feel
unjustifiable changes to the solo part and the addition of material not
by Bartok.

The more recent version by Peter Bartok and Nelson Dellomaggiore has the
virtue of giving the solo part as it is in the sketches but some of the
working out and orchestration is less than happy.

The new realisation by Csaba Erdelyi, is a significant further contribution.
He has produced a solo line as close as is practical to Bartok's sketches
whilst offering solutions to the very few impractical passages that do
not change the character of the music.  His orchestration and working
through of Bartok's material is much more convincing and idiomatic to
my ear.  He also (alone amongst these editors) explains his workings
with copious notes in the score.

For those interested in studying this further the score will soon be
available from www.promethean-editions.co.nz

Paul Silverthorne