Bartók, Béla

Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta; Hungarian Sketches

Average customer rating:

5 stars if it weren't for Solti
Essential Recordings
Only Boulez/Chicago gets 5 Stars
Reiner Is Great In The Music Of Bela Bartok, RCA Deserves Praise For The Sound
Too much hissing

Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta; Hungarian Sketches

Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000003FEJ
Release Date: 1993-08-10

Tracks:

Concerto For Orchestra: Introduzione: Andante non troppo; Allegra vivace
Concerto For Orchestra: Giuoco delle coppie: Allegretto scherzando
Concerto For Orchestra: Elegia: Andante non troppo
Concerto For Orchestra: Intermezzo interrotto: Allegretto
Concerto For Orchestra: Finale: Pesante; Presto
Music For Strings, Percussion And Celesta: Andante tranquillo
Music For Strings, Percussion And Celesta: Allegro
Music For Strings, Percussion And Celesta: Adagio
Music For Strings, Percussion And Celesta: Allegro molto
Hungarian Sketches: An Evening In The Village
Hungarian Sketches: Bear Dance
Hungarian Sketches: Melody
Hungarian Sketches: Slighty Tipsy
Hungarian Sketches: Swineherd's Dance

Amazon.com essential recording

Since its release on LP in the mid-1950s, Fritz Reiner's rendition of the Concerto for Orchestra has stood as the standard against which all other recordings of the work are measured. Even after all these years, the recording remains just as convincing and authoritative. Reiner's superb control of his orchestra and of Bartók's rhythms and textures is still unsurpassed, even by dozens of subsequent conductors in the digital age. Likewise, the Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta shows just what an incredible ensemble the Chicago Symphony was under Reiner's direction. This umpteenth reissue, in RCA's Living Stereo series, promises to be the one to have, its sonics noticeably improved over the earlier CD release in 1989. --David Vernier

Customer Reviews:

5 stars if it weren't for Solti.......2007-06-06

First of all let me say that if you are unfamiliar with Concerto for Orchestra you will not be dissapointed with this recording. The interpretation is lively and dynamic with the understanding and pathos that is needed for a well rounded interpretation. The only reason I give it 4 stars is because I am familiar with the recording of the Chicago Symphony under Solti. The Solti recording of the next generation Chicago Symphony has the same dynamism and drama but has much greater nuance. Solti simply makes music come to life in certain phrases that is seemingly overlooked by Reiner. However this recording is usually available at cheaper prices (especially used).

Essential Recordings.......2007-03-27

Fritz Reiner was the driving force behind Bela Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra. Reiner and Bartok had been friends for over 40 years having met as piano students at the Budapest Academy. The composer had been in the United States since 1940 and the separation from his beloved Hungary combined with his ill health made the transition unhappy and he had no will to compose. Agatha Fassett's book Bela Bartok: The American Years recounts the composer's life during this time and, since Ms. Fassett knew Bartok's wife, her portrait of the composer is first hand. Maestro Reiner convinced Serge Koussevitsky in 1943 to commission the work and conducted the premiere in December of that year. The Concerto for Orchestra became Bartok's most popular work.

This recording with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was made in 1955 and I do not think that a finer one has been recorded. The details of Bartok's score come through and the balance is perfect, allowing us a true live performance and the quality of the recording really comes through during quieter moments. Reiner's intimate knowledge of the score and his control are apparent in this recording. This is also true for the recording of Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta and Hungarian Sketches from 1958. Both works are beautifully played with great precision that lacks nothing for the feel of the music. The Hungarian Sketches are marvelously stylish, bringing out the nature of the music.

These recordings are essential and have certainly lost nothing since they were made in the 1950's. Rather than have any distortions the transfer to CD has been carried out with great success so the original sound is even better.

Only Boulez/Chicago gets 5 Stars.......2006-09-17

Sorry Reiner fans.
3 things I do not like about this recording that keeps it at a 4 star level.
First i do not like "iron rod" style conducting. Musicality is thrown out to justify percision and disipline. I do not like Reiner's style
Secondly is the record quality is poor, especially compared to Boulez/DG
Third is the screechy instruments tonality in some of Reiner's band winds.
For Bartok I look to Boulez/Chicaho, Skrowaczewski/Minnesota and Dorati/Detroit. Ivan Fischer has also done some nice recordings on Philips, but NOT his CfO, which is a dud. I also have issues with Boulez's CfO with the New York.

Reiner Is Great In The Music Of Bela Bartok, RCA Deserves Praise For The Sound.......2006-09-09

Just a mention that this is a review of the RCA 'Living Stereo' release, not the later SACD compatible version. RCA was famous for it's ground-breaking work in the mid-to-late fifties when it came to vivid, immersive stereo sound and it's reputation lives to this day. I'm not sure if the reviewer below is experienced in vintage classical recordings predating the digital era. Yes, they contain some tape hiss but it's really insignificant to what value the performances themselves have and the soundstage is very vibrant. I have personally listened to recordings from Solti on DECCA, Jansons on EMI and Fischer on Philips in these fine works by Bartok and none have come close to the passionate intensity of the interpretations or the wonderful recorded sound that these Reiner versions capture.

Reiner's account of the Concerto for Orchestra, one of the most famous 20th-century orchestral works, is on everyone's list as truly exceptional. The Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta receives just the kind of wicked, eerie, powerhouse performance that will make you a fan of Bartok for life and this piece in particular.

If you're going to own one Bela Bartok CD, this is one of the best choices on the market today. After you've ingrained this music into your mind, time for the Miraculous Mandarin, the Piano Concertos and the String Quartets to follow.

Too much hissing.......2006-08-24

After reading so many positive reviews, I was very exited when I recieved this cd in the mail. I popped it in my bose wave radio, turned it up to 85, and listened to the most annoying hissing sound I've ever heard coming from my system. I regret purchasing this cd.

György Ligeti Edition 3: Works for Piano (Etudes, Musica Ricercata) - Pierre-Laurent Aimard

Average customer rating:

A nice mico-view of Ligeti's work
Very Nice Piano Studies. Not the best Ligeti
Perfect Ligeti.
good cd
Ligeti on cd, hooray

György Ligeti Edition 3: Works for Piano (Etudes, Musica Ricercata) - Pierre-Laurent Aimard

Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Ligeti Project II: Lontano / Atmosphères / Apparitions / San Francisco Polyphony / Concert Românesc - Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Jonathan Nott

ASIN: B0000029P0
Release Date: 1997-01-21

Tracks:

Piano Etudes (Book One): I. De'sordre - Molto vivace, vigoroso, molto ritmico
Piano Etudes (Book One): II. Cordes a' vide - Andantino con moto, molto tenero
Piano Etudes (Book One): II. Touches bloque'es - Presto possibile, sempre molto ritmico
Piano Etudes (Book One): IV. Fanfares - Vivacissimo molto ritmico, con allegria e slancio
Piano Etudes (Book One): V. Arc-en-ciel - Andante molto rubato, con eleganza, with swing
Piano Etudes (Book One): VI. Automne a' Varsovie - Presto cantabile, molto ritmico e flessibile
Piano Etudes (Book Two): VII. Galamb borong - Vivacissimo luminoso, legato possibile
Piano Etudes (Book Two): VIII. Fe'm - Vivace risoluto, con vigore
Piano Etudes (Book Two): IX. Vertige - Prestissimo sempre molto legato, sehr gleichmassig
Piano Etudes (Book Two): X. Der Zauberlehrling - Prestissimo, staccatissimo, leggierissimo
Piano Etudes (Book Two): XI. En suspens - Andante con moto, (avec l`e'le'gance du swing)
Piano Etudes (Book Two): XII. Entrelacs - Vivacissimo molto ritmico, sempre legato, con delicatezza
Piano Etudes (Book Two): XIII. L'escalier du diable - Presto legato ma leggiero
Piano Etudes (Book Two): XIV. Coloana infinita' - Presto possibile, tempestoso con fuoco
Musica ricercata: I. Sosenuto - Misurato - Prestissimo
Musica ricercata: II. Mesto, rigido e cerimoniale
Musica ricercata: III. Allegro con spirito
Musica ricercata: IV. Tempo de Valse (poco vivace - a' l'orgue de Barbarie)
Musica ricercata: V. Rubato. Lamentoso
Musica ricercata: VI. Allegro molto capriccioso
Musica ricercata: VII. Cantabile, molto legato
Musica ricercata: VIII. Vivace. Energico
Musica ricercata: IX. Adagio. Mesto - Allegro maestoso
Musica ricercata: X. Vivace. Capriccioso
Musica ricercata: XI. Andante misurato e tranquillo
Piano Etudes (From Book Three): XV. White on White

Customer Reviews:

A nice mico-view of Ligeti's work.......2007-03-11

In the notes that accompany this CD, Ligeti explains that his piano compositions are the way he made up for his inadequacies as a player. It's hard to argue that he didn't reach his goal. These superbly-performed pieces provide a clear view of many aspects of Ligeti's work--his humor, his lyricism, his ear, and sometimes his little obsessions.

The most obvious technical requirement of this music is touch. In some of the etudes, complex voicings are required at very low dynamic levels. In others, the ability to bring out multiple voices is paramount. Aimard is perfect. His technique is so assured that we can easily get to the music and not be sidetracked by prowess.

Those who know Ligeti's music know how protean he could be. Like a good athlete, he was willing to take on enormous risks. Sometimes the result felt intellectualized and tiresome. But more often than not, the music soared. This is certainly true of the Etudes on this disk. They are studies in the truest sense of the word--one may focus on a particular set of intervals, another on a texture, yet another on a rhythm. Each one is fascinating and the collection holds together nicely. There are even hints of Nancarrow!

Ligeti himself felt ambiguously about the "Musica Ricercata", and it isn't hard to see why. The first piece is based on only two pitches (with octaves); the second on three and so on. It sort of proves a point, but what point? By the time you get to the fourth piece, it starts to get good, but the listener has to regain some flagging energy. The third piece is actually the basis of the opening of "6 Bagatelles for Wind Quintet".

So while I have little quibbles, I still recommend this disk strongly. It's great music, beautifully played.

Very Nice Piano Studies. Not the best Ligeti.......2006-09-02

Volume 3 of the Gyorgy Ligeti Edition on Sony has gotten a boatload of very positive reviews, above, from people who probably know a lot more about music, especially piano music, than I do, but I maintain, from my position as a rank amateur who just happens to like listening to a wide range of classical music, that this disc is neither the very best piano music nor the most interesting Ligeti.

Don't get me wrong. I think almost all of the studies on these tracks are good, maybe even almost as good as Chopin and Liszt, but I don't think so. We don't hum Ligeti etudes the way some people hum Chopin etudes or dances for piano. And, a few of the passages sound like the scene from 'Ghostbusters' where Bill Murray tickles the very high keys on Sigourny Weaver's piano as they enter her apartment to track down some particularly awesome apparitions of Zuel (sic) and Gozer (sic sic).

If you are looking to touch only the high points of Ligeti's music and don't have the compulsioin to own everything, you can pass on these and not be missing too much of the good stuff. Check out his choral and a capella works for the really hot stuff.

Perfect Ligeti........2005-10-19

The own György Ligeti was asked about who was the pianist more complete in his piano works; he talked about Pierre-Laurent Aimard, whose a close relation with the XXth Century music is very well known (Boulez, Messiaen, Berg, Schönberg, Carter...) all around the world. He talked too about Volker Banfield, who has recorded some of the Etudes for Wergo, but not so good as Aimard recordings, in my opinion.

What we find in this CD, 3rd of an outstanding series, is the technical perfection made piano playing, in the hands of Aimard, who plays absolutely all the notes full of perfection, sense and correction, from the dynamic to the tempo, from the correct attack to the prodigious use of the pedal. If you are used to a romantic piano you can feel this versions a little cold or dry, but this is because Aimard goes directly to the heart of the XXth Century style of piano playing, in the line that comes from Schönberg-Berg-Webern and that goes in a different way of playing than the century before, so you can be lost in some sense about the way he understand the use of the piano, the playing, the technique, the echoes, the silences...

You'll find in this CD the Musica Ricercata, a work from Ligeti's first period, very easy to understand for those who are not used to listen this kind of "modern" music. It has many folk motives, used in a way very close to Bartók's style. One of this pieces (Musica ricercata: II. Mesto, rigido e cerimoniale) was taken by Stanley Kubrick for his last film Eyes Wide Shut, with an outstanding presence in the film associated to the worries and pressure over the main character; Ligeti says about this piece that it was a knife against the stalinist regime because of this style of music, sinister, innovative and forgiven in the communist Europe. The film's version is slower than this by Aimard, more "cinematographic" but slower than the score asks. Aimard's version in this piece and in the full pieces are outstanding.

The rest of the CD it's based on the Etudes, books I & II, both of them complete. Those are pieces much more modern than the Musica Ricercata, some of them, in the words of Ligeti with some links and inspiration on Nancarrow's works. We are listening in this case some of the most complex works for piano written in the XXth Century, and many of them authentic jewels of the genre. The Aimard versions for Sony are the better I know from the French pianist, who have recorded some of them in other CDs, like his great recording from de Carnagie Hall (Warner), but not so good like this outstanding CD.

So, if you are looking for perfection in Ligeti's piano music performances don't doubt about this CD; if you want to discover the piano of the XXth Century this could be a great door to go into, because of the music, because of the performing and because of a perfect recording and booklet.

good cd.......2005-08-23

This is a great cd if you are interested in piano music. I personally enjoyed "Mesto, rigido e cerimoniale", which was most famously used in the Kubrick film, Eyes Wide Shut. The rest of the cd is very enjoyable as well.

Ligeti on cd, hooray.......2005-08-01

We all owe Stanley Kubrick a big debt of gratitude for exposing us to Ligeti who, with Cage and Stockhausen among others, influenced the evolution of popular music while maintaining a continuum to our classical past.

The recording quality in this series is outstanding, and it is a delight to see the breadth of this series. Having many works of Ligeti from the Wergo vinyl catalog of the 70's, I selected the piano works for the fun of discovery.

Those of you who enjoy this piano stuff should try to find Nina Deutsch's recording of Charles Ives: Solo Piano Music.

Average customer rating:

excellent, all the way around
Beyond Interesting...
Worth adding if you already own other versions of Sacre
Speed performance
Buy it for Mussorgsky

Le Sacre du Printemps [Hybrid SACD]

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Horizons - Leif Ove Andsnes

ASIN: B000F39M9W
Release Date: 2006-10-10

Tracks:

A Night on the Bare Mountain - Original Version
Suite
Introduction
The Harbingers of Spring, Dance of the Adolescents
Mock Abduction
Spring Rounds
Games of the Rival Tribes
Procession of the Sage
The Sage
Dance of the Earth
Introduction
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Glorification of the Chosen One
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Album Description

This is Esa-Pekka SalonenÂ's debut live recording from the Walt Disney Concert Hall and his first recording as the principal conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic on DG. The central piece, StravinskyÂ's Le Sacre du printemps was conducted by Salonen on the inaugural night of the Hall in 2003, a masterpiece that becomes something of a miracle within the outstanding acoustics of the Walt Disney Hall. This recording captures the energy, beauty and musical power of this extraordinary collaboration.

To capture the full sound experience of this concert, DG delivers this recording on a hybrid SACD. This release is certain to be a superior musical experience if not the new reference recording of this classical music milestone. Other pieces on this release are MussorgskyÂ's Night on Bald Mountain and BartÃ³kÂ's Miraculous Mandarin SuiteÂ—works that benefit greatly from the superb acoustics at the Walt Disney Concert Hall as well as the highest possible recording sound quality.

Customer Reviews:

excellent, all the way around.......2007-06-03

These are fast, exciting, and superbly executed performances. They're also not lightweight, as there's plenty of brass and percussion in all of them. It's ridiculous to argue that the 1947 version of "Le Sacre" should be dismissed because it's easier to play. It's not easier to play. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding Stravinsky's revision, the 1947 version is a legitimate alternative to the orginal. The vast majority of listeners would never know the difference. Simply put, the '47 version is slightly leaner, with textures clarified a bit. Yes, there is some minor reduction in the orchestration. But one could just easily argue that the original version is over-orchestrated. Again, the differences are just not that noticeable. Personally, I prefer the revised version for the cleaner textures that the permit the rhythms to be more sharply etched - just slightly so. Either way, this is a great performance - one that comes closer to Stravinsky's incredibly fast metronome markings than most.

I also prefer the original version of "Night On Bare Mountain" to the well known Rimsky version. Here's a case where a later revision - Rimsky's complete rewrite of the original - truly makes the piece a completely different work. As unfamiliar as the original version is, it's clearly better. And yes, the Abbado recording may be just slightly better - but with emphasis placed on "slightly". This one is plenty exciting, and just as well detailed as the Abbado.

For me, the benchmark for any performance of Bartok's "Miraculous Mandarin" is the fast chase sequence (located at the end, in the truncated "suite" version). This one is very fast, and very exciting. You can also hear ALL of the numerous, short (and sometimes, ringing) strokes of the tam-tam; the large orchestral gong. That adds lots of color, as well as an Asiatic tinge to the chase. If you're interested in any or all of these works, you'd be hard-pressed to do better.

Beyond Interesting..........2007-04-13

This disc contains three of my favorite pieces of music, all extremely well played and in excellently recorded sound. That said, two of the pieces--The Rite and The Night--come in forms not usually heard. While one piece, in my personal judgement, suffers a bit (you can't really accuse Mussorgsky of pulling Stokowski's punches, since Mussorgsky wrote the piece, but that's what it feels like...) this disc makes for fun and adventurous listening.

Maestro Salonen is the man. Let's get that out up front. If he's not the greatest working conductor today then he's damn close.

Salonen and his forces get the job done here. So much is made of the fact that this thing was recorded at Disney's new music hall that one fears this music and the muscians who do such an excellent job playing it might get overlooked. That would be a shame.

While I slightly prefer Ivan Fischer's Mandarin, the one found here is great as well. Usually on discs with programs like this you expect at least one lemon. In this case, I had expected that the Bartok would suffer.

I was pleasantly surprised that I was wrong.

This Rite of Spring stands with Stravinsky's own recording on CBS as one of my favorites. Yes, as other people have noted, this is the revised version. Still, this recording has all the thunder and emotion you could want from this piece.

I've already kind of shared my opinion on the Mussorgsky. Stokowski was a much better arranger than Mussorgsky was a composer. Still, the spark of life that Stoki drew out inhabits the original--and either way, listening for those differences keeps you on the edge of your seat.

This is fun music. This is a great disc. You should not hesitate to get a copy.

I give this disc my full recommendation.

Worth adding if you already own other versions of Sacre.......2007-04-13

Like some other reviewers, I was expecting to fall in love with Salonen's work (given how strong a performance he recently recorded of three major works by Hindemith, and the care he took with those, albeit recorded in a different concert hall with the LA Philharmonic). This version of Le Sacre does have its moments, but I find Gergiev's performance more compelling (notwithstanding the sometimes recessed sound of the eight French horns), and surely more dramatic. Sonically, there's enough bass drum content in this recording to probably inspire some low rider to tool around town in a lowered Chevy playing this CD loud enough to crack his own ribs, a result that's highly desirable in his value system. But the bass drum is more dramatic and even harrowing in Gergiev's recording, which is somewhat inexplicable yet nonetheless true. In any event, the hype over this recording is somewhat overstated: it is hardly revolutionary.

I also regret to report that Salonen's performance of the original version of Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" does not compare to the premiere recording by Claudio Abbado, which still comes across as definitive interpretationally, in regard to balance, and with respect to sonic clarity. This is something of a surprise, given how little competition Salonen has to deal with in bringing this work to the public's attention. My complaint throughout most of my listening was "where are the details? everything sounds muddy compared to Abbado!" Maybe the engineers are still figuring out how to get clarity recording in this new hall -- they certainly haven't achieved it as yet.

The Bartok work is well-recorded, and although I own several other versions, this might end up being my go-to interpretation for the work: it is at least tied with the other top contenders (Abbado's on DG, and the Complete Bartok Edition version as well).

Speed performance.......2007-02-08

Good sound, but the fastest paced "Rite" I have ever heard. It loses the dramatic effect for me when a piece of music is played at such breakneck speed. Impressive musicians to keep up this speed of tempo.

Buy it for Mussorgsky.......2007-01-28

The hype surrounding this recording is somewhat unwarranted. The Walt Disney Concert Hall provides acoustics that are superior to those of any other venue, and this recording captures that sound wonderfully. The deep booming bass and superb dynamic contrasts are the uniquely pleasurable aspects of this recording. But great sound doesn't equal great performance. I've always been somewhat disappointed in the way Esa-Pekka conducts early 20th century music from Eastern Europe. Salonen always imbues these pieces with a kind of Boulezian gloss that obscures the primitivism that defines the music of Stravinsky, Bartok, and others of the "countryside to concert hall" school. What we're left with are perfectly performed versions of the Rite and the Miraculous Mandarin that lack the excitement and force found in other recordings. Despite the less than stellar sound, I'd take Dorati's version of the complete Miraculous Mandarin any day over this version. And we don't have to sacrifce sound for a great performance of the Rite, thanks to Valery Gergiev's magnificent recording that evokes all of the necessary primitivism in one of the most exciting performances on record. The Mussorgsky piece might be worth the price of admission, due to the relative obscurity of this version. But depending on how interested you are in hearing the original version of the piece, the price tag may still be too steep. I should add that since I've never heard another performance of this version, I can't honestly determine whether this is an excellent performance or just an average one. But if you're buying this for the Rite or the Miraculous Mandarin, I'd say look elsewhere. You can find better versions for less.

Average customer rating:

The Real Stuff
My Cup of Tea
Get it for the Copland

Collector's Edition

Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Customer Reviews:

The Real Stuff.......2007-03-25

This disk collects Benny Goodman performances with the composers conducting, so it is historic and probably authoritative as to performance, but great to have Copland, Stravinsky, etc. themselves and Goodman in your collection. Nice performances, although sound varies with these vintage sessions.

My Cup of Tea.......2002-05-22

Goodman's performances of all the music on this disc are superb. He (along with violinist Joseph Szigeti) commissioned the Bartok score and, notwithstanding its age (mono/1940) there has never been a better recording than this one. The other performances are first-rate stereo recordings that appeared on a 1966 CBS/Columbia Lp titled "Meeting at the Summit." Morton Gould's music often sounds like watered-down Copland to my ears, but "Derivations" is a really strong piece and quite memorable. The Stravinsky is a true masterpiece that has never sounded better, and the same goes for Bernstein's powerfully imagined, joyous "Prelude, Fugue and Riffs." Having the composers conduct was an inspired idea (in the case of the Bartok, the composer accompanies at the piano); not at all gimmicky. It's amazing how well Goodman still played in the middle '60s. Although he gave solid performances well into the '70s, he was still at or near his peak when these recordings were made and the dead-on intonation and range of color in his playing is simply breathtaking. The other reviewer mostly likes the Copland score. It's nice, but the real show-stopper here is the Bernstein: 7 1/2 minutes of sheer big-band bravado. Not to be missed!

Get it for the Copland.......2001-10-10

Aaron Copland's Clarinet Concerto is one of the most magical pieces of music ever to come out of North America, and for me, this is *the* recording. Fifty years old, but as is so often the case, the original is the best - Mr Goodman's finest twenty minutes. Great value, too! The other pieces (by Bernstein, Stravinsky and Bartok) I can take or leave, but who knows, they might be your cup of tea.

Average customer rating:

Perfect
Outstanding

Masters of the Bow

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
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Release Date: 2002-03-19

Tracks:

Introduction And Rondo Capriccioso For Violin And Orchestra - Itzhak Perlman
Violin Concerto No.2 In D Minor, Op.22: Romance (Andante) - Gil Shaham
Zigeunerweisen, Op.20 - Ruggiero Ricci
Violin Concerto No.2 In B Minor, Op.7: Rondo A La Clochete 'La Campanella' - Salvatore Accardo
Thais: Meditation - Joshua Bell
Partita No.3 In E, BWV 1006: Preludio - Nathan Milstein
Partita No.3 In E, BWV 1006: Gavote And Rondo - Gidon Kremer
The Four Seasons: Concerto No.2 In G Minor, RV 269 'Summer': Presto - Pinchas Zukerman
Sonata No.4 In G Minor, Op.1 'The Devil's Trill' - Gil Shaham
Violin Sonata No.3 In D, Op.9 No.3: Tambourin (Presto) - Henryk Szeryng
Minuet In G, WoO 10 No.2 - Arthur Grumiaux
Songs Without Words: Spring Song, Op.62 No.6 - Christian Ferras
24 Caprices For Solo Violin: Caprice No.9 In E Major - Shlomo Mintz
24 Caprices For Solo Violin: Caprice No.17 In E-Flat Major - Ruggiero Ricci
24 Caprices For Solo Violin: Caprice No.24 In A Minor 'Tema Quas' - Salvatore Accardo

Tracks:

Violin Concerto In D, Op.35: Canzonetta (Andante) - Nathan Milstein
Polonaise No.1 In D, Op.4 - Leila Josefowicz
Ave Maria, D 839 - Christian Ferras
Hungarian Dance No.1 In G Minor - Samuel Sanders
Humoresque, Op.101 No.7 - Arthur Grumiaux
The Legend Of Tsar Saltan: Flight Of The Bumblebee - Henryk Szeryng
Hebrew Melody, Op.33 - Ruggiero Ricci
Salut D'amour, Op.12 - Phillip Moll
Waltz 'La Plus Que Lente' - Henryk Szeryng
Three Old Viennese Dances: Liebesfreud - Joshua Bell
Three Old Viennese Dances: Liebesleid - Phillip Moll
Baal Shem: Nigun - Arthur Grumiaux
Berceuse, Op.16 - Anne-Sophie Mutter
Tzigane - Concert Rhapsody For Violin And Piano - Gerhard Oppitz
Danzas Espanola, Op.37: Andaluza (Dance No.5) - Arthur Grumiaux
Hora Staccato - Christian Ferras
Six Romanian Folk Dances, Op.Sz 56 - Henryk Szeryng

Customer Reviews:

Perfect.......2005-02-15

I love classical music but I dont own very much of it, so I thought I would start my collection with Masters of the Bow. What a beautiful selection it was. I just love the sound of a Violin, Joshua Bell is my favorite,I would love to hear more from him. This collection really helps you get to know the masters. Lovely Lovely!

Outstanding.......2004-08-17

I love the violin and this collection is one of my favorites. A great choice for someone like me who doesn't know enough about music and never knows what to buy. It has introduced me to some artists and pieces that I knew nothing about and will help me know what to look for in violin music in the future. This is my favorite but I would also recommend The Cello and Voice CDs in the "Masters of" series. I can't wait for more in this series.

Average customer rating:

Microcosmos
Great value with a few flaws
eeh, I guess I don't like Bartok that much
Best classical value out there
5 Stars for the music and performance

Bartok: Complete Solo Piano Music

Manufacturer: Vox (Classical)
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Brahms: Works for Solo Piano

ASIN: B00008X5AY
Release Date: 2003-05-27

Amazon.com

Sàndor, still active at 90 as this reissue appears, was a student of Bartók and a preferred interpreter of his music. Since this set appeared on nine LPs in the early 1960s, it has been the standard for Bartók's piano music; in this fine-sounding reissue, it still is. Sàndor can hit hard enough for such virtuoso pieces as the Piano Sonata and "Out of Doors," but he also retains the romantic element heard in the composer's own playing which tempers the harsher qualities of the music. While this collection isn't quite as complete as advertised (some early, insignificant piano music by Bartók is omitted), it includes all of Bartók's significant piano music, including such relatively obscure gems as the Bagatelles, eight Improvisations, and many delectable folk arrangements which will appeal even to listeners who think Bartók is too challenging for them. Vox's recorded sound, superbly remastered, resists obsolescence as effectively as Sàndor's performances. Even with the inclusion of the early books of "Mikrokosmos," which will appeal mostly to piano students, this set is worth several times the asking price. --Leslie Gerber

Customer Reviews:

Microcosmos.......2007-03-08

Sándor was a champion not only of Bartók's music but also of Bartók's style of playing. He often complained that people were too quick to see Bartók as ultra-modern, and to fail to appreciate the rich seam of lyricism that also runs through his music.

The piano music is dominated by short pieces, many of them written for piano students, notably the collections "Microcosmos" and "For Children". These, together with suites of folk dance arrangements, make up the bulk of the solo piano output.

Sandór plays these short, and often simple pieces, with neither too much nor too little art. As a gifted teacher, he knew unerringly how much music each of these small vessels held. The result is beguiling - but be warned: no-one can listen to the 153 short pieces of Microcosmos end-to-end. This is an anthology to be dipped into, not swallowed whole.

The remastering is pretty successful (fortunately - some of Vox's CD reissues are plagued by severe deterioration of the original tapes). And it's for half nothing-what's not to like?

Great value with a few flaws.......2006-07-28

I am not a Bartok expert by any scale, but I do like the way these pieces, without exception, are played. There are, however, a couple of other problems.

As mentioned by an earlier reviewer, very few of the works are split into tracks - Mikrokosmos is divided into 7 for each of its six volumes, and to accomodate for a full CD. In these seven tracks there are 121 songs. I would have much preferred if the songs had been split into tracks. Almost the entire CD set is this way - Fifteen Hungarian Songs is one track, Fourteen Bagatelles, etc. It is very annoying when one wants to hear a particular song in those tracks and not the others.

Another detriment to the collection is the recording quality. It is decent most of the time, but in loud sections the piano buzzes. One might be able to ignore it, but I think that it detracts from the passion of the forte quite a bit.

Overall, for $18 it is pretty decent, but if you are like me and like to keep your music library neatly organized (and aren't extremely cheap), I would not recommend this set.

eeh, I guess I don't like Bartok that much.......2006-07-25

I like the fact that Bartok is into the folk tradition and all, but he just tends to forget the fact that melody has to be SOMEWHERE in the music. I'm all for creative expression when you're sitting alone at the piano, but abstract music should be reserved for performance art. I like playing some of your stuff Bela, but I just don't want to listen to you.

Best classical value out there.......2005-10-05

To put this set in perspective, for months I would go to my local Tower Records fishing for worthwhile classical CDs at least once a week. One of the discs that sat in the bins the longest was a single CD of Bartok piano music, played by Zoltan Kocsis. It was Volume 7 of a complete series. This CD listed for $17.99, and as long as I went to that Tower Records, it did not budge an inch, nor was its price amended.

Now, Kocsis is one of the greatest pianists alive, and if anyone is worthy of commanding a premium, it is him. And to be fair, that CD is going to be re-released on October 11 as part of a Collector's Edition - eight CDs, $63.97 MSRP. But it's already going up against this little gem, which contains five CDs with all of the truly great solo-piano works by an internationally recognized Bartok specialist for $21 - not much more than the cost of one CD from the other set. This kind of value is not to be taken lightly.

I came to this set with my impression of Sandor informed by his complete Prokofiev - ultra-hard, sometimes rhythmically slack, always melodically lacking in some way or another. But he held a very special feeling for Bartok, and saved his best playing for the great Hungarian. In passages like the first of the Three Csik Dances, the opening of the Improvisations Op. 20, or in the Ten Easy Pieces, there is a simplicity, charm and wistful homesickness that is quite touching. In pieces like the Out of Doors suite, the Sonata, or the Burlesques, there is a vicious, impulsive energy, a wicked sense of humor and an overabundance of overtones. It is never mindless, inappropriate or even overly harsh - it's just very, very loud.

In this set I like best the endless landscape of the Sonatina, the unusual colors and fragrances in the Etudes, the brilliantly conceived Bear Dance (the last of the Ten Easy Pieces), and the multifaceted, complex, gorgeous Improvisations. Any fan of Bartok should hear these.

5 Stars for the music and performance.......2005-04-04

This is a fantastic deal, but the problem with this Collection stems from the fact that the pieces are often not separated by tracks. This is especially annoying for the Children's Pieces and Mikrokosmos. There are so many pieces, one wears out the fast forward button and still may miss the particular piece one is looking for. The booklet is fairly insightful, and the performer is widely hailed as the supreme interpreter of Bartok's piano music. So aside from this slightly annoying at times and ridiculously annoying at other times flaw, this is one of the best deals in Classical music. Don't hesitate. Add it to the cart.

Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; etc. [Hybrid SACD]

Average customer rating:

tedious...
A Peerless Recording
dschlvr
There and then, here and now
The Gold Standard for these Bartók works.

Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; etc. [Hybrid SACD]
Bela Bartok , and Fritz Reiner
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B0002TKFQS
Release Date: 2004-09-14

Tracks:

Introduzione: Andante Non Troppo; Allegro Vivace
Giuoco Delle Coppie: Allegretto Scherzando
Elegia: Andante Non Troppo
Intermezzo Interrotto: Allegretto
Finale: Pesante; Presto
Andante Tranquillo
Allegro
Adagio
Allegro Molto
An Evening In The Village
Bear Dance
Melody
Slightly Tipsy
Swineherd's Dance

Customer Reviews:

tedious..........2006-11-10

I just could not comprehend why many music lovers love Bartok--
his music might be intellectual, but to me it's boring!

A Peerless Recording.......2006-04-30

I loved the previous issue of this recording, but this one is even clearer, which is some praise, since the previous issue was a brilliant pressing of a brilliant recording. I never tire of Reiner's performance.

There is no other recording of these pieces that approaches this one - absolutely none (not even Leinsdorf's version). Not only is this Reiner disc the best Bartok recording ever made, but it is one of the best classical recordings ever made... truly a desert island disc.

Only a cretin wouldn't buy this record. ;)

dschlvr.......2005-07-31

What a great step up from the previous release.
There some details that have come out in this recording that I really enjoy.
In many ways, a truly revalatory recording.
A lover of Bartok should not be without it.

There and then, here and now.......2005-06-18

Many years ago I knew someone who had often heard Fritz Reiner conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in concerts (a pleasure I am sorry to say I never experienced). Reiner's conducting style, he said, was at the opposite extreme from the histrionics of (for instance) Leonard Bernstein. On the podium, Reiner exhibited no baton waving, choreographic body language, or ecstatic or pained facial expressions. In fact, said my acquaintance, if you were seated directly behind Reiner you might not see him move at all for long stretches! Such was his rapport with the orchestra that no show-biz gestures were necessary, not to mention foreign to his temperament.

The performances he led of the two major works on this disc suggest what he was able to achieve when he conducted music that suited him. (His recordings of Richard Strauss are in the same category.) Reiner surely had an affinity with Bartok (partly, perhaps, because Reiner too was originally Hungarian).

There are recordings that make you think, "What a superb orchestra!" There are others that elicit accolades for the interpretation or the sound quality. And then there are a very few -- the best -- that make you forget about things like those while you're listening, and if you have any thought it's simply, "What great music this is."

Reiner's Bartok falls into that rarefied category, and I can think of no higher praise.

The Concerto is probably the most popular and most frequently performed 20th century piece of orchestral music. Like anything that is played and recorded often, it can seem to be too much of a good thing. To Reiner and his Chicagoans of the 1950s, it was relatively new music, and the fact that it had not yet become standard repertory may have been one reason they were able to project it so vividly: there was no routine to fall into.

It would be absurd to say that listening to this recording was like hearing the Concerto and the Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta for the first time. Nevertheless, I was more conscious than ever of the strangeness mixed with the beauty, the exoticism coupled with the power.

Technically, the recording is not one marvel but two. First was the original recording team from RCA, who must have been geniuses. Not only did they record these performances in two channels (the Concerto) and three channels (the Music for Strings etc.) before there was any commercially established way of reproducing multiple channels in playback, but they also must have used what was then state-of-the-art mikes and tape recorders.

The second marvel is the SACD remastering, which was clearly done by sound engineers who knew their business and who used only the original channels, not adding synthetic rear channels. The result is that 50 years drop away, and you are there and then. Or, thanks to the realization of Bartok's scores that you are hearing, in some wondrous dreamscape beyond place and time.

What great music this is.

The Gold Standard for these Bartók works........2004-12-30

I suppose I could well have waited a few more days, until the turn of the New Year, to be able to say "Now, 50 years later, Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra as it must have sounded to the engineers in the studio." After all, this "classic of all classics" does date from 1955. (The other two works on the album have recording dates from 1958, and I sure don't plan to wait *that* long for a silver anniversary!) Actually, I have been listening to this hybrid SACD release for at least a few weeks now, but it was only this past weekend that I had my first opportunity to listen directly to the SACD layer; previous hearings were of the "redbook" CD layer only.

So, I'm jumping the gun as regards the 50 year celebration, but for good reason. The newly-mastered DSD sound from the analog master tapes, as heard in the SACD layer, are enough of an improvement over the redbook CD sound to justify my impatience. And the redbook CD layer is already excellent as it is!

At this late date, there is little left to be said about how significant these performances are. By now, anyone interested in these Bartók works probably already knows that Fritz Reiner had two things in his favor in these performances that make them as authoritative as they are: His close personal friendship with the composer, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in one of its most glorious periods, almost without equal (thanks of course to Reiner). Not always apparent (particularly in some of the many earlier releases of this work in less than excellent sound in years past) was the contribution of the RCA engineers in those very early days of stereo. But it all comes together, in sound better than ever thought possible, thanks to DSD (Direct Stream Digital) processing of the original analog master tapes and SACD technology for converting the sound back to analog, giving us the nearest thing to "perfect analog"; the closest possible replica of the original tapes.

The Concerto for Orchestra is, by far, Bartók's best-known and most popular work, immediately accessible in a way that many of his other mature works are not. (His very earliest works, such as "Kossuth" and the "Orchestral Suite No. 1," written largely in the style of Richard Strauss before he began his studies of Hungarian and Rumanian folk music, are also immediately accessible, if hardly of the quality of his mature works.) Reiner, being as close to Bartók as he was, knew this work "inside and out" and committed a performance for the ages in this session. He of course was also aware of the reason why Bartók chose to parodize the "invasion" theme from Shostakovich's 7th Symphony in the fourth movement of the Concerto, and plays this loopy parody, complete with its growling trombone raspberries, for all it is worth. But the work is of course much more than this oft-mentioned parody, and Reiner's interpretation is as good as any, and now - with DSD/SACD technology - fully competitive to versions recorded decades later.

If the Concerto for Orchestra is Bartók's most popular and accessible work, then Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste ("MfSPC") is probably his greatest masterpiece in respect to incorporating his studies and usage of Magyar folk music into "serious" works. Here, Reiner and his Chicagoans are, if anything, even better than in the Concerto. Their execution of the work has a hair-raising "snap" that many other performances fail to achieve, and the sound - three years newer (1958) than the session at which the Concerto had been recorded - is even better.

The final work on the album is his Hungarian Sketches, again exhibiting the results of his musicological studies as incorporated into a unique personal style. It - like the MfSPC - was recorded in 1958 sessions, but, like that work, sounds as if it had been recorded just yesterday. For those coming upon this work for the first time, don't expect to hear ersatz "ethnic" music in the vein of Liszt and, say, Enescu. Not that assimilating the five movements is in any way difficult, but it is really only in the final movement ("Swineherd's Dance") where the music approximates what we generally tend to think of as "Hungarian folk music." But clearly tinged with the unique piquancy that was Bartók.

This is an album that always had been famous for its performances. Now, fifty years after the fact, thanks to DSD/SACD technology, it can also be appreciated for having the sound quality that had been there all the time on the original master tapes, but never quite realized with this level of perfection in its earlier reincarnations.

An essential album if ever there were one!

Bob Zeidler

Béla Bartók: The 6 String Quartets - Takács Quartet

Average customer rating:

go for Tokyo
Spectacular
Lacklustre insight ... airbrushed production.
The third way.
Finally, they get it

Béla Bartók: The 6 String Quartets - Takács Quartet
Edward Dusinberre , Andras Fejer , Karoly Schranz , Roger Tapping , and Takács Quartet
Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000042GU
Release Date: 1998-01-13

Tracks:

String Quartet No. 1, op. 7 (Sz 40): I. Lento
String Quartet No. 1, op. 7 (Sz 40): II. Poco a poco accelerando all'allegretto
String Quartet No. 1, op. 7 (Sz 40): III. Introduzione Allegro - Allegro vivace
String Quartet No. 3(Sz 85): I. Prima parte: Moderato
String Quartet No. 3(Sz 85): II. Seconda Parte: Allegro
String Quartet No. 3(Sz 85): III. Ricapitulazione della prima parte: Moderato - Coda: Allegro molto
String Quartet No. 5 (Sz 85): I. Allegro
String Quartet No. 5 (Sz 85): II. Adagio molto
String Quartet No. 5 (Sz 85): III. Scherzo. Alla bulgarese -- Trio
String Quartet No. 5 (Sz 85): IV. Andante
String Quartet No. 5 (Sz 85): V. Finale: Allegro vivace -- Presto

Tracks:

String Quartet No. 2, op. 17 (Sz 67): I. Moderato
String Quartet No. 2, op. 17 (Sz 67): II. Allegro molto capriccioso
String Quartet No. 2, op. 17 (Sz 67): III. Lento
String Quartet No. 4, (Sz 91): I. Allegro
String Quartet No. 4, (Sz 91): II. Prestissimo, con sordino
String Quartet No. 4, (Sz 91): III. Non troppo lento
String Quartet No. 4, (Sz 91): IV. Allegretto pizzicato
String Quartet No. 4, (Sz 91): V. Allegro molto
String Quartet No. 6 (Sz 114): I. Mesto - Piso, pesante - Vivace
String Quartet No. 6 (Sz 114): II. Mesto - Marcia
String Quartet No. 6 (Sz 114): III. Mesto - Burletta: Moderato
IV. Mesto

Amazon.com's Best of 1998

If chamber music suggests merely sedate and timid pleasures, let the Takács Quartet guide you through the profound experience that this medium can convey--above all in the hands of a composer as rich in imagination and innovative in temperament as Béla Bartók. In some ways his cycle of string quartets traces not only his personal creative evolution but the deeply tragic zeitgeist of half a century as well. The Takács Quartet plays with an unfaltering sense for the lifeblood of this music in performances that are both gutsy and ethereal. --Thomas May

Amazon.com essential recording

Béla Bartók has emerged as one of the few modern masters who continue to be regularly performed and recorded. The six string quartets that span his career from 1908 to 1939 are generally regarded as this century's unsurpassed addition to the medium, and they provide an intimate entrée into the world of their withdrawn and enigmatic composer. With this cycle, the Takács Quartet confirms its reputation, against some very fierce competition, as possibly the most cogent, exciting exponent of this music today. They achieve an unusually successful synthesis of the quartets' polarizing components: lyrically haunting "night music," passages of grotesquely ironic humor, and, in the Sixth Quartet, an unrelentingly pervasive sense of desolation and farewell. In the process, the Takács players give visceral life to the extremities of technique Bartók's scores demand. These range from exaggerated glissandi to pizzicati made to snap violently against the fingerboard, at times producing a sound more akin to a percussion battery than a string quartet. The ensemble convincingly traverses Bartók's creative evolution, from the hothouse romanticism of the First Quartet to the Third's densely packed modernist fury and the palindrome structures of the Fourth and Fifth Quartets. Richly nuanced with local color, these accounts are among the best available on disc and will likely become standard-setters. --Thomas May

Customer Reviews:

go for Tokyo.......2006-08-28

Bartok is not a likely candidate for frequent recordings in the 21st century. Before it is too late you should acquire the Tokyo version on RCA (including the Janacek quartets). Besides being a bargain (2 composers for the price of 1), you get passionate playing and sound that is excellent. Do not be swayed by anyone who says Decca (inventor of the "tree" after all) knows how to record anything. It does depend on your speakers (headphones). I have owned systems on which the Tokyo String Quartet did not sound good. Well, this is about the Takacs. They are relatively bloodless (do any of you really hear passion in this recording?). There are many who would say that that's the way Bartok should sound. But the Tokyo is like Heffler and Mikrokosmos--he sounds much better than Ranki whether or not he's authentic.

Spectacular.......2006-01-31

I bought this CD in preparation for the Takacs Quartet's performance of the Bartok cycle in January of 2005. This recording is absolutely amazing, and it brings out the liveliness and the joy that the members of the Quartet take in playing this piece. Now, make sure you get the chance to see this group live; you will be amazed and astounded by their cohesiveness and energy.

Lacklustre insight ... airbrushed production. .......2005-11-01

A medium to large hall ambience smooths & smudges it all. An inappropriate production decision for these quartets.
The playing lacks the emotional concentration & forensic insight needed - they have their moments but overall it just doesn't involve you like it should. The overall effect is of an airbrushed quality - the result is lacklustre.
I grew up on the landmark 1960's Juilliard readings, so you may know where I'm coming from, and what I expect to hear. It so happens that is what works best for this music, which is why those are legendary performance recordings.
After that these fall very far short. As Sony are still not re-releasing those classics, buy the Emerson Qt. recordings instead - they are of a similar quality to - and in the spirit of - the Juilliard's reading.

The third way........2005-10-04

I've recently bought this cycle, after having or listening those by Tokyo String Quartet (DG & RCA), Hagen Quartett (DG), Alban Berg Quartett (EMI), Vegh Qt (Auvidis) and some other versions played by outstanding quartets, like the glorius Arditti Quartet's recording of the Fourth Quartet in Grammavision label.

If I'm thinking about a third way is because Takács shows a middle interpretation between the very hungarian performings of the Vegh Qt and the very "international" or "western" playing of the Tokyo Qt, ABQ or Hagen Qt versions. The Takács Quartet that play in this CD box is formed by musicians from the western tradition and hungarian born players, 50%; something you can feel in their interpretation, which is a bit more objective than Takács' first recording released by Hungaroton, with more hungarian players in the quartet, but still with the taste of the hungarian Bartók tradition, much more close to the popular and folk reminiscences of his music.

I don't hear in this performings the amazing precision of the Tokyo String Quartet in every pizzicatti, glissandi, or technical resource of the works; but, on the other hand, I can say that the musicality and folk sense of some parts it's better done in this Decca recording, which looks much more to the origin of some chords in the folk hungarian music which Bartók so deep has studied. Takács (Decca) bring a more aggressive version, something that makes very complex to have the precision of the more refine and "distant" Tokyo performings. Anyway, technically it's marvellous too, and that's the reason why I give them 4 stars... 5 stars only in heaven...

The conclusion is we are listening a very good performances of the cycle, in style and technique, one of the key works in this genre along the XXth Century; probably between the better.

Finally, they get it.......2005-08-31

Bartok has been called many things, but one thing I wish he would be called more often is a mystic of music. In my over-educated opinion, that is what he was, and that dominated him as a composer, a pianist, an ethnomusicologist and a pedagogue. The problem is that many performers come to this music very naive or, worse, dismissive of this quality of Bartok's genius, and focus too heavily on technical apsects. The result is obvious: a failure to give a proper and authentic voice to the music.

I am sympathetic to the dilemma of any performer tackling these quartets - these are very demanding on a technical level alone. But this does not mean their beauty resides purely in that facet, nor does it excuse any performer for rendering these as a technical or academic exercise. Suffice to say, some performers just don't "get it," and thus ought not attempt these works, if they are not able to met the technical challenge they present and then transcend it in spirit to articulate their fuller beauty.

As a musician who's studied Bartok academically, I am very aware on an intellectual level of how these works relate to Bartok's studies in folk music, and I can easily pick out and analyze his inversions and sequences of folk motifs that populate these works. However, all too often this is something not easily *heard* by the average listener - a tragic irony, seeing much of Bartok's work is so rooted in folk music, which is possibly the most accessible of music idioms. Sadly, this is a mystic's lot: they experience something that is univerally accessible, yet in the process of articulating that experience, those first recieving the message miss the point, get destracted by superficial details, and obscure the beauty and truth of the mystic's message for everyone else. Luckily, music can speak for itself - if the performer doesn't get in the way. So if the performer understands, either consciously or intuitively, that there is a *heart* to these works beyond what he sees written so precisely and techinically on the page (i.e. "gets it"), and strives to articulate this, then that engimatic mysicism of Bartok is unlocked and becomes readily accessible to anyone willing to peer into it.

Fortunately and thankfully, the Takacs Quartet "get it." This is very likely the finest performance of these quartets ever recorded. Without repeating too much of what other reviewers have already said, there is a very genuine spirit and superior command to the Takacs Quartet's performance that makes the very challenging and highly technical quality of these quartets transparent so to reveal, rather than obscure, Bartok's vision. They open up Bartok's quartets in a rare way that allow the listener to "live" inside them, and glaze readily upon their beauty, possibly very closely to how Bartok originally envisioned it. I listened to this recording immediately after listening the 1960's recording by the Novak Quartet, and the difference was astounding. It only vindicated my long standing opinion that Bartok was indeed a mystic of music, and that his unique and very challenging compositions offer much, much more (and for a wider audience) than one might assume from a less inspired performance.

Absolutey, unequivocally recommended.

Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin; Hungarian Peasant Songs; Rumanian Folk Dances

Average customer rating:

A less horrific Miraculous Mandarin, along with many energetic dances
Savage Mandarin, Delightful Dances
Definitive "Miraculous Mandarin" and Other Great Bartok
Some Rarely Recorded Bartok and a Great Mandarin
Superb perfomances of rare Bartok and a great ballet

Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin; Hungarian Peasant Songs; Rumanian Folk Dances

Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Dances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Zoltán Kodály: Háry János Suite / Dances of Galánta & Marosszék / Children's Choruses - Iván Fischer / Budapest Festival Orchestra
Béla Bartók: The 6 String Quartets - Takács Quartet
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta; Hungarian Sketches
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies
Bartok: Complete Solo Piano Music

ASIN: B0000060AV
Release Date: 1998-10-20

Tracks:

Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 100, BB 107: Ballad
Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 100, BB 107: Hungarian Peasant Dances
Hungarian Sketches, Sz. 97, BB 103: 1. An Evening At The Villlage
Hungarian Sketches, Sz. 97, BB 103: 2. Bear Dance
Hungarian Sketches, Sz. 97, BB 103: 3. Melody
Hungarian Sketches, Sz. 97, BB 103: 4. Slightly Tipsy
Hungarian Sketches, Sz. 97, BB 103: 5. Swineherd's Dance
Roumanian Folk Dances, Sz. 68, BB 76: 1. Stick Dance (From Mezoszabad)
Roumanian Folk Dances, Sz. 68, BB 76: 2. Sash Dance (From Egres)
Roumanian Folk Dances, Sz. 68, BB 76: 3. In One Spot (From Egres)
Roumanian Folk Dances, Sz. 68, BB 76: 4. Horn Dance (From Bisztra)
Roumanian Folk Dances, Sz. 68, BB 76: 5. Roumanian Polka (From Belenyes)
Roumanian Folk Dances, Sz. 68, BB 76: 6. Fast Dance (From Belenyes)
Roumanian Folk Dances, Sz. 68, BB 76: 7. Fast Dance (From Nyagra)
Dances Of Transylvania, Sz. 96, BB 102B: 1. Allegretto
Dances Of Transylvania, Sz. 96, BB 102B: 2. Moderato
Dances Of Transylvania, Sz. 96, BB 102B: 3. Allegro vivace
Roumanian Dance, Sz. 47a, BB 61
The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Allegro
The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Moderato (First Decoy Game)
The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: (Second Decoy Game)
The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Sostenuto (Third Decoy Game)
The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Maestoso
The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Allegro
The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Sempre vivo
The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Adagio
The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Agitato
The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Molto moderato
The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Piu mosso

Customer Reviews:

A less horrific Miraculous Mandarin, along with many energetic dances.......2006-07-05

This CD contains a set of short Hungarian songs, but everything else is about the dance. Bartok was not just a collector of folk songs with Kodaly but an expert in dance traditions throughout the Balkans. He extended his curiosity into the Arab world of North Africa, as one can hear in the popular Dance Suite. Here we get 16 lesser-known dance collections from Romania, Transylvania, and Hungary, Mostly quite brief, they build from a fascinating palette of rhythms, each more exotically syncopated than the last. Fischer and his Budapest orchestra perform them with complete ease and native flavor.

Even without the fillers, however, the main work is superbly done. The Miraculous Mandarin ballet has been called Bartok's response to Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. But superficial resemblances aside in terms of motor rhythms and dissonant harmonies, the Mandarin is a more shocking, horrific scenario, featuring sexual craving, torture, despair, and a suicide by hanging. Most condcutors set out to maximize the shock value of this often barbaric-sounding music, but Fischer is comparatively less aggressive. He loosens the tension a notch, letting the rhythms become more lilting--even comic in their macabre way--and asking the woodwinds to sing as much as screech. As a result, we don't feel quite so assaulted, and for me that led to more enjoyment. He is aided by exceptionally clear, natural sonics from Philips that convey the music with wonderful impact.

Savage Mandarin, Delightful Dances.......2006-01-27

I bought this recording based on hearings of some of Fischer's other recordings, primarily for the Miraculous Mandarin. I was not disappointed, but I was delightfully surprised at how much I enjoyed the other works which I had not heard previously. The recording quality and playing are first-rate, and Fischer's interpretation of the music is superb, easily the equal of Boulez and Dorati. I would recommend this version of the Mandarin as my first choice for someone seeking a recording of it.

Definitive "Miraculous Mandarin" and Other Great Bartok.......2001-05-02

Having just heard this recording in its entirety, I'm not surprised that Ivan Fischer is a sought after guest conductor for some of the world's great orchestras, such as the New York Philharmonic. Here he conducts Bartok with much warmth and compassion. I thought Abbado's version of "Miraculous Mandarin" was superb until I heard Fischer's. Although the Budapest Festival Orchestra's level of playing isn't as refined as either the London Symphony Orchestra's or Berlin Philharmonic's, they perform Bartok's music with tremendous energy and compassion. It's a pleasure hearing rarely performed Bartok in conjunction with the entire score of "Miraculous Mandarin". If you want a first-rate introduction to Bartok's orchestral music, you should definitely acquire this fine CD.

Some Rarely Recorded Bartok and a Great Mandarin.......2001-01-06

Ivan Fischer is a Bartok expert in the tradition of Sir Georg Solti, Fritz Reiner and Antal Dorati. Like the former conductors, he has insights into the music of his countrymen that give his performances the force of authority. The recording of the Miraculous Mandarin was the initial offering by Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra and has been followed up with other equally significant recordings of Bartok and Kodaly.

With this recording, Fischer has given us some Bartok that is not recorded with much frequency, particularly the Hungarian Peasant Songs and the Dances of Transylvania. These short orchestral works were inspired from Bartok's folk song collecting trips. They are central to Bartok's development as a composer, and we are lucky that so many of these short pieces have been collected here.

The recording of the Miraculous Mandarin is superbly done, bringing out the hard edge of this ballet about a group of thugs who force a woman to lure their victims to them. Bartok found the scenario for this work printed in a magazine. The music has a hard edge to it, a gritty depiction of the events of the ballet. Bartok makes effective use of the orchestra in the hesitation of the girl, at first, to seduce men to be robbed. The mandarin's appearance, his pursuit of the girl and his eerie death are given force by the dissonant themes Bartok juxtaposes.

Ivan Fischer gives the score a great reading that will be almost impossible to beat. Even if you already have a copy of the Miraculous Mandarin you will also want to own this one.

Superb perfomances of rare Bartok and a great ballet.......2000-04-01

This Bartok album from conductor Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra is a real treat. It brings wonderful performances of Bartok not often recorded...even Boulez hasn't recorded some of these pieces in his Bartok survery.

In addition to the colorfully, zesty performances of these rare Bartok gems, this dics has (to my mind) the best performance of the Complete Mircaculous Mandarin Ballet out on CD. The orchestra and conduct go for color and refinement rather than sheer power. The opening bristles with excitement, and the chase shows the orchestra in fine form at a tempo that is daringly fast. In this case it works. It is clear that conductor and orchestra are very much home in these works of Bartok. For a complete Mandarin I would say that this is now first choice...even over the excellant Boulez version for DG. The playing in this ballet is some of the best I've heard (only the Berlin Philharmonic in their recording of the suite...not complete ballet...plays better).

Perhaps until the BPO makes a complete recording with Abbado or Rattle...this is the Mandarin to get I would say.

Tracks:

1. Allegro Moderato - Allegro - Krystian Zimerman
2. Andante - - Krystian Zimerman
2. Allegro - Attacca:/3. Allegro Molto - Krystian Zimerman
1. Allegro - Leif Ove Andsnes
2. Adagio - Presto - Adagio - Leif Ove Andsnes
3. Allegro Molto - Leif Ove Andsnes
1. Allegretto - Helen Grimaud
2. Adagio Religioso - Helen Grimaud
3. Allegro Vivace - Helen Grimaud

Amazon.com

Pierre Boulez, always a sympathetic conductor of Bartók's music, here leads three different orchestras and three different soloists in a highly recommendable disc of the composer's complete piano concertos. The First is a jagged, percussive piece reminiscent of Bartók's earlier Dance Suite in its driving rhythms. Like the Second Concerto's, the slow movement is one of his typically mysterious "night" pieces, with lightly tapping percussion accompanying the piano's ghostly entry and winds adding to the otherworldly effect in the central section. Soloist Krystian Zimerman plays it magnificently. The Second Concerto is no less challenging, but scored more transparently with Baroque-inspired counterpoint. Again, propulsive rhythms excite, and Leif Ove Andsnes sails through the virtuosic solo part with aplomb. Bartók wrote the first two to feature on his concert tours. The Third Concerto was written by the dying composer in 1945 as a legacy for his wife, a concert pianist. It's one of his most lyrical, relaxed works with long-lined melodies and often lush scoring. Here the pianist is Hélène Grimaud, playing with tonal beauty, poetic flair, and the requisite toughness for the final Allegro. With its superb soloists and orchestras and Boulez's consistency, this disc is a Bartókian feast. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews:

Tremendous tremendous performances.......2007-03-24

Even today Bartok remains a controversial composer, but these latest performances of three of his most seminal and exhilarating works must surely convince any doubters. The unifying link in the three, with different orchestras and different soloists is Pierre Boulez and he must take great credit for having brought out the individual character of these three fine works to the full. He is a master of precision and skill and has produced three superlative performances in very different circumstances.
My favorite of the three has to be the Second, widely regarded as a Bartok's finest Concerto. For the soloist this is not so much a test of technique as of physical force and endurance with its page after page of "doubled" writing. Leif Ove Andsnes meets the challenge perfectly and this is one of the most dazzling performances of any piece of music on record I have ever heard by both soloist and orchestra (Berlin Philharmonic). But the second is not just merely virtuosity and I would like you to hear the inner movements of this challenging piece especially carefully. This a piece of music you can listen to again and again. It will always leave you behind, but never give up the chase.

The third Concerto requires a somewhat different approach and I note that Boulez chose to record this with Helène Grimaud rather than one of the more flamboyant male soloists. Bartok wrote this piece specifically for his wife, Ditta Pasztory, and it is altogether a softer, more tender piece. The 'night music" slow movement is wonderfully done and I can't imagine this lovely and underrated piece ( whatever nasty cynic said he had composed this merely for cash?) ever being better performed.

The first concerto is a relatively early work and full of boyish energy indeed violence. Although musically it's probably the baby of the three, Krystian Zimmerman and the LSO give it "full welly" and it's a very engaging result. Altogether- strongly recommended.

Bartok: The Piano Concertos, Pierre Boulez.......2006-08-21

Sheer perfection, intense, fantastic interpretations. A must for serious record collectors.

Interesting, Good, and Clean.......2006-05-28

The Interesting: Boulez brings out some of the more conventional harmonies of the First Concerto! and some of the modernisms of the Third! (is that a substituted bass drum stroke at the end of the third movement?) - - And a different soloist and orchestra for each concerto -

The Good: The con