Bartok!!!

[Alexander Hawkins]

I'm really enjoying Bluebeard's Castle at the moment; Christa Ludwig and Walter Berry taking the vocal parts; conducted by the great Istvan Kertesz.

Anyone else into any Bartok at all? Any particular favourites?

[J.A.W.]

Some of my favorite Bartóks are:

Concerto for Orchestra

RIAS-Symphony Orchestra Berlin / Ferenc Fricsay - DG 447443

Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Fritz Reiner - JVC JMCXR-0007 (20-bit K2 remastered XRCD; RCA recording)

Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Pierre Boulez - DG 437826

Budapest Festival Orchestra / Iván Fischer - Philips 456575

Concertgebouw Orchestra / Riccardo Chailly - Decca 458841

Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta

RIAS-Symphony Orchestra Berlin / Ferenc Fricsay - DG 74432

Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Fritz Reiner - JVC JMCXR-0012 (20-bit K2 remastered XRCD; RCA recording)

Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Pierre Boulez - DG 447747

The Miraculous Mandarin

Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Pierre Boulez - DG 447747

Concertgebouw Orchestra / Riccardo Chailly - Decca 458841

Budapest Festival Orchestra / Iván Fischer - Philips 454430

Concerti for Piano and Orchestra Nos.1-3

Géza Anda / RIAS-Symphony Orchestra Berling / Ferenc Fricsay - DG 447399

András Schiff / Budapest Festival Orchestra / Iván Fischer - Teldec 13158

String Quartets Nos.1-6

Tokyo String Quartet - DG 445241

Takács Quartet - Decca 455297

Hagen Quartett - DG 463576

Keller Quartet - Erato 98538

Sonata for Violin / Sonata for Violin and Piano No.1

Isabelle Faust, Ewa Kupiec - Harmonia Mundi 911623

Sonata for Violin and Piano No.2 / Rhapsodies for Violin and Piano Nos.1-2 / etc.

Isabelle Faust, Florent Boffard - Harmonia Mundi 911702

Works for Piano

Zoltán Kocsis - Philips 464676, 434104, 442016 (I believe there are more volumes)

plus several other orchestral pieces (too many to post here)

Edited May 19, 2003 by J.A.W.

[Alexander Hawkins]

Hans - thanks for your comprehensive responses to this and my Bruckner post; they have both given a lot of information to chew over! I'll be sure to try and give a few of your suggestions a listen!

[Alexander Hawkins]

For me, the guy's orchestration was fantastic. Some of the sounds he coaxes during 'Bluebeard' are completely 'otherwordly' (for want of a better word!).

Edited May 18, 2003 by Red

[J.A.W.]

The Reiner discs which I posted above are the 20-bit K2 remastered XRCD versions of the RCA recordings. I've edited my post.

Edited May 18, 2003 by J.A.W.

[Claude]

In addition to the works and recordings Hans has listed, one of my favourites:

- The Wooden Prince (Ballet)

New York Philharmonic, Pierre Boulez (1975, Sony reissue)

[A Lark Ascending]

I'm a Bartok fan too. Love that angular, wrong-footed sound and those 'insect-music' pieces. My favourites are the Concerto for Orchestra, 2nd and 3rd Piano Concertos and the Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta.

I love Janacek for similar reasons. Anyone unfamiliar should make a beeline for the 'Glagolitic Mass', one of my all time favourite pieces.

The period from the late 19th C to the mid-20th is by far my favourite in classical music.

[Try out Richie Beirach's 'Round About Bartok' with George Mraz and Gregor Hubner for a jazzy take on Bartok's world. Not remotely Jacques Loussier!)

Edited May 18, 2003 by Bev Stapleton

[Alexander Hawkins]

I remember performing the Glagolitic Mass once when I was a bit younger, and thinking that it was absolutely brilliant how the relatively fluid and melismatic sounding words 'Kyrie Eleison' could translate into the bizarre 'Gospod Bog'!!!

The Janacek 'Sinfonia' is great, too, with the full 12 trumpets!

[Alexander Hawkins]

[Try out Richie Beirach's 'Round About Bartok' with George Mraz and Gregor Hubner for a jazzy take on Bartok's world. Not remotely Jacques Loussier!)

I'm curious about this!

Bartok, I guess, practically gave the world the tritone substitution. Downbeat 'Hall of Fame'?

[A Lark Ascending]

I saw a performance ogf the Glagolitic in 1976 at a Prom (Adrian Boult with Beethoven 5 in part 1, Andrew Davis (I think) with the Glagolitic in part 2). I was bowled over! I'd only been listening to classical music for a while (thank you ELP, the Nice, Yes etc!!!!) and hadn't got much further than the Stravinsky ballets. This was another world.

I'm not a huge opera fan (I still find I have to suspend my disbelief with classical singing) but in my desparation to hear more Janacek I grew to love his operas, especially 'The Cunning Little Vixen' which is magical.

Have a look here for the Beirach details:

http://www.actmusic.com/mraz-beirach-huebner.htm

The Monteverdi disc is great too. I've yet to hear the Mompou.

[Alexander Hawkins]

Thanks, Bev, that's really helpful!

[Chuck Nessa]

Before this Bartok thread becomes a Janacek thread, let me add some recommendations.

The Kocsis series is now up to 8 volumes, not counting the Concerti (which are my favorite versions). All of the Ivan Fischer orchestral discs are worthwhile. For the string quartets I prefer the Keller Quartet (cheap) or their teachers, the Vegh Quartet. Naxos has a number of good bargains including the Violin Sonatas, Concerti, Rhapsodies, Contrasts with Gyorgy Pauk and the piano concerti by Jando/Ligeti. The 2nd Violin concerto is one of my favorite pieces - my favorite by far is a recording from the early '50s by Ivry Gitlis with Horenstein conducting. This is available cheaply on a Vox double, as is a very worthwhile set of the "concerted" piano works with Gyorgy Sandor.

Not currently in print, but if you can find the Ferenc Fricsay recording of the Divertimento (on a deleted DG disc), you will never take this piece for granted.

[J.A.W.]

Forgot to mention the Keller Quartet - Chuck is right, their Complete Quartets are great. I've edited my post.

[BruceH]

My favorites are Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta and all the String Quartets except the first one. I'd have to go consult my collection before I say more.