One of the last acts of frail, white-haired Composer Bela Bartok before his death in 1945 was to complete a viola concerto for William Primrose. In the University of Minnesota's Northrop Memorial Auditorium last week, a near-capacity crowd brought Violist Primrose back onstage six times with thunderous applause. With Conductor Antal Dorati's Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, he had given the first public performance of Bartok's tragic, lyrical swan song.
In writing the concerto, Hungarian Bela Bartok knew he was racing against death. Hating to waste one moment of time or one inch of score...
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