Zoltán Kodály’s life was largely occupied with collecting his country’s folk music and devising the internationally renowned method of music education that bears his name. His orchestral output is therefore a relatively small but astonishingly colourful and rhythmic legacy, brimming with Hungarian spirit. Háry János is the charming story of a veteran soldier and the ‘tall tales’ he spins about his life, while Summer Evening is a timeless evocation of that gentle moment in the day. The Symphony in C major occupied Kodály for over 20 years, the composer’s disarming explanation being, ‘I was busy with more important work’.

Kodály’s Háry János Suite is one of his most popular works, and it is joined here by the Symphony in C major which is relatively unknown, but still full of the composer’s distinctive harmonic and melodic fingerprints.

This release joins JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s previous Kodály programme on Naxos 8573838 to present his complete orchestral works. This recording was considered one in which ‘Falletta magically distils the essence of an authentic ‘‘Hungarian’’ Kodály sound. The playing of the Buffalo Philharmonic is sparkling but earthy throughout’ in MusicWeb International, and we can be sure that collectors will be eager to add this new disc to its widely acclaimed predecessor.

Another associated and widely acclaimed album presenting Bartók’s Kossuth and other orchestral works (8573307): ‘This is a well-thought-out collection of Bartók’s earliest major orchestral works… Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra stand up well to some pretty formidable competition… This is highly recommended’ (Fanfare).