Béla Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19 (Sz73) / Four Orchestral Pieces, Op. 12 (Sz51) / 3 Village Scenes, (Sz 79)

1. Orchestral Pieces (4), for orchestra, Op.12, Sz. 51, BB 64
Composed by Bela Bartok
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

2. Falun, Three Village Scenes, for female chorus & chamber orchestra (Tri dedinské scény) Sz. 79, BB 87b
Composed by Bela Bartok
with Joan Fuerstman
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

3. The Miraculous Mandarin, pantomime in 1 act Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82
Composed by Bela Bartok
Conducted by Pierre Boulez

Béla Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19 (Sz73) / Four Orchestral Pieces, Op. 12 (Sz51) / 3 Village Scenes, (Sz 79),Bela Bartok,Pierre Boulez,Joan Fuerstman,New York Philharmonic,Schola Cantorum,Hugh Ross,Sony,20th/21st Century Ballet,20th/21st Century Orchestral Music,Choral,Classical,Classical Composers,Classical Music,Orchestral,Secular Choral Music

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 General | Bartók, Béla | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Ballets & Dances | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | 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 Bartok: Complete Solo Piano Music Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies ASIN: B0000060AV Release Date: 1998-10-20

Tracks:

1. Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 100, BB 107: Ballad
2. Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 100, BB 107: Hungarian Peasant Dances
3. Hungarian Sketches, Sz. 97, BB 103: 1. An Evening At The Villlage
4. Hungarian Sketches, Sz. 97, BB 103: 2. Bear Dance
5. Hungarian Sketches, Sz. 97, BB 103: 3. Melody
6. Hungarian Sketches, Sz. 97, BB 103: 4. Slightly Tipsy
7. Hungarian Sketches, Sz. 97, BB 103: 5. Swineherd's Dance
8. Roumanian Folk Dances, Sz. 68, BB 76: 1. Stick Dance (From Mezoszabad)
9. Roumanian Folk Dances, Sz. 68, BB 76: 2. Sash Dance (From Egres)
10. Roumanian Folk Dances, Sz. 68, BB 76: 3. In One Spot (From Egres)
11. Roumanian Folk Dances, Sz. 68, BB 76: 4. Horn Dance (From Bisztra)
12. Roumanian Folk Dances, Sz. 68, BB 76: 5. Roumanian Polka (From Belenyes)
13. Roumanian Folk Dances, Sz. 68, BB 76: 6. Fast Dance (From Belenyes)
14. Roumanian Folk Dances, Sz. 68, BB 76: 7. Fast Dance (From Nyagra)
15. Dances Of Transylvania, Sz. 96, BB 102B: 1. Allegretto
16. Dances Of Transylvania, Sz. 96, BB 102B: 2. Moderato
17. Dances Of Transylvania, Sz. 96, BB 102B: 3. Allegro vivace
18. Roumanian Dance, Sz. 47a, BB 61
19. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Allegro
20. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Moderato (First Decoy Game)
21. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: (Second Decoy Game)
22. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Sostenuto (Third Decoy Game)
23. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Maestoso
24. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Allegro
25. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Sempre vivo
26. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Adagio
27. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Agitato
28. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Molto moderato
29. 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.

Strong recommendation.

Average customer rating: On the Subject of Hindemith... Excellent! Brilliant Budget Buy

Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphoses; Concert Music for Strings and Brass; Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin - Suite Manufacturer: EMI Classics ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Bartók, Béla | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Hindemith | Hindemith, Paul | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Variations | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Similar Items: String Serenades D. Scarlatti: 18 Sonatas Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream Stravinsky: Three Greek Ballets (Apollo, Agon, Orpheus) Shostakovich: Symphony No.15 & Sonata No.2 ASIN: B0005EZW9U Release Date: 2005-01-11

Tracks:

1. I. Allegro
2. II. Turandot, Scherzo (Moderate - Lively)
3. III. Andantino
4. IV. March
5. I. Massig Schnell, Mit Kraft - Sehr Breit, Aber Stets Fliessend
6. II. Lebhaft - Langsam - Im Ersten Zeitmass (Lebhaft)
7. The Miraculous Mandarin - Suite, Op.19

Customer Reviews:

On the Subject of Hindemith..........2005-07-10

When Eugene Ormandy was at the helm of the Philadelphia Orchestra he was a master of the big sounds that so occupy the works of Paul Hindemith and Bela Bartok. This CD is a fine sounding reproduction of 1979 recordings made by this ensemble and director. The rarely heard 'Concert Music for Stings and Brass' is a welcome addition to the Hindemith recorded repertoire: it is exciting and edgy and Ormandy flings into the air with aplomb.

Ormandy's conducting proclivity for favoring the big string sound keeps this 'Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Weber' somewhat grounded. The playing is superb if a bit thick in sound. But the performance of Bartok's 'Miraculous Mandarin Suite' was one of the best of its time.

This is a solid recording, perhaps not up to the sonic standards of today, but at the budget price it deserves to gain a place in the libraires of all music lovers of 2oth Century music. Grady Harp, July 05

Excellent!.......2005-06-17

I love Hindemith. I like playing many of his solo works, but his orchestral works are true masterpieces. This is greatly shown on this Ormandy recording. The brass is so full and harmonous and the woodwinds have many tonal and dynamic shadings. The first movement has to be my favorite, it has so much energy and flair.
The Miraculous Mandarin Suite is also very well done, the clarinet solo is fantastic.

Brilliant Budget Buy.......2005-05-02

Don't you just love it when classic recordings get reissued on CD at a budget price?! Such is the case with this title in EMI's "Encore" series featuring Hindemith and Bartok orchestral works by conductor Eugene Ormandy leading the Philadelphia Orchestra in analog stereo performances from 1978. After many productive years at Columbia, and a shorter but no less brilliant tenure at RCA, Ormandy took the Philadelphians briefly to EMI before ending his career at Sony. I bought this CD primarily because I have never had the opportunity to hear Ormandy perform either of the two Hindemith pieces featured here -- Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes by Carl Maria von Weber and Concert Music for Strings and Brass. I do however own his earlier account of Bartok's Miraculous Mandarin Suite reissued on Sony Essential Classics and I have to say I prefer the first incarnation. However, with classical budget lines beginning to inexplicably disappear (including the aforementioned Sony "Essential Classics" series -- what's up with that?!), I'm delighted that EMI continues to make great recordings available at such an inexpensive price through series such as "Gemini" and "Encore."

Average customer rating: NOW IT CAN BE PLAYED

Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin (Complete Ballet); Dance Suite; Hungarian Pictures Manufacturer: Naxos ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Bartók, Béla | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Ballets & Dances | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music 4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Bax: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2; Dream in Exile; Nereid Samuel Barber: Capricorn Concerto; A Hand of Bridge; Intermezzo from Vanessa The Art of The Vienna Horn Cohen Plays Bax Brahms: Clarinet Quintet; Clarinet Sonata No. 2; Bliss: Clarinet Quintet ASIN: B0007XHL02 Release Date: 2005-04-19

Tracks:

1. Opening: The Girl And The Three Tramps
2. First Seduction Game: The Shabby Old Rake
3. Second Seduction Game: The Young Student
4. Third Seduction Game
5. The Mandarin Enters And Remains Immobile In The Doorway
6. The Girl Begins A Hesitant Dance...
7. The Mandarin Stumbles-The Chase Becomes Even More Passionate
8. The Three Tramps Leap Out, Seize The Mandarin And Tear Him Away From The Girl
9. Suddenly The Mandarin's Head Appears Between The Pillows And He Looks Longingly At The Girl
10. The Terrivied Tramps Discuss How They Are To Get Rid Of The Mandarin
11. The Body Of The Mandarin Begins To Glow With A Greenish Blue Light - Bournemouth Symphony Choir
12. She Resists No Longer-They Embrace
13. I. Moderato
14. II. Allegro Molto
15. III. Allegro Vivace
16. IV. Molto Tranquillo
17. V. Comodo-Finale
18. I. An Evening In The Village
19. II. Bear Dance
20. III. Melody
21. IV. Slightly Tipsy
22. V. Swineherd's Dance

Amazon.com

To get an idea of how thoroughly Marin Alsop has studied the composer's style, check out the fourth of the Hungarian Pictures (its title translated here as "Slightly Tipsy"). She has the orchestra playing this music with the same kind of erratic, lurchy rhythm the composer used in his own piano recording, a comic effect which is difficult to reproduce in an orchestra. The performance of The Miraculous Mandarin offers the complete ballet, with its breathtaking choral finale, not just the more commonly heard suite. Alsop gets the orchestra to play with powerful rhythmic drive (equally true in the exciting Dance Suite) and a great deal of color. Some of the power is dissipated by slightly diffuse recording, but it's still a pleasure to hear this wonderful music played with such conviction and fine style. The price is right, and even the annotations are excellent. --Leslie Gerber

Customer Reviews:

NOW IT CAN BE PLAYED.......2005-05-12

Compared with the personae of The Miraculous Mandarin, Vladimir and Estragon almost seem like high society. This strange tale, with its inconclusive ending, of the weird light that shines into a squalid little world, not even amounting to a demi-monde, was given its premiere in Cologne in 1926 and promptly stamped on by Cologne's mayor Konrad Adenauer, later famous as West Germany's steely old Chancellor in the post-war years. The story of prostitution, robbery, deception and murder can hardly have been awfully startling in inter-wars Germany one wouldn't have thought, certainly not if Brecht and Isherwood are anything to go by, which they are. We are made of stronger stuff these days, and one of the things that particularly commends this disc is that the full score of the ballet is performed. At the same time, we are also harder to shock nowadays with harsh and dissonant musical idioms. Bartok himself described the music of The Miraculous Mandarin as `hellish'. Myself, I am anything but avant-garde in my musical taste, but the once hellish music is music that I find gripping, involving and easy to take in. Bartok has, for me, a musical `bite' in his idiom that is clean and bracing, the sort of quality that I find in some of my other favourite 20th-century composers such as Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Britten.

The idiom progressively relaxes as this orchestral recital goes on. The Dance Suite is far less challenging than The Miraculous Mandarin, and the Hungarian Pictures less so still. I found myself very impressed by the grasp of Bartok's style (or styles) that Marin Alsop shows. The recording is not the last word in vividness, always an advantage in a Bartok score, but at a bargain price I am certainly not inclined to complain. The musical public have every reason to be grateful to Naxos and certain other budget labels for their tenacity and imagination in keeping up the supply of high-quality music that does not top any popularity charts at a time of great economic difficulty for the industry. What you will find here is a completely admirable set of performances, interpreted with style and flair, and played with professional pride. For newcomers to the composer I would say that the Dance Suite and Hungarian Pictures ought to ease you into his idiom without problems. There is no denying that The Miraculous Mandarin is music for grown-ups and for comparatively sophisticated tastes, but if you are daunted in any way by the latter all I would say is -- don't be.

Average customer rating: ONE OF BARTOK'S MASTERPIECES. Darkly Beautiful Boulez and Bartok, a great combination A Disk For People Who Dislike Music Essential Bartok

Béla Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin / Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta - Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus / Pierre Boulez Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Bartók, Béla | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Ballets & Dances | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Deutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music Similar Items: Béla Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra / 4 Orchestral Pieces - Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Pierre Boulez Béla Bartók: The Wooden Prince / Cantata Profana - John Aler / John Tomlinson / Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus / Pierre Boulez Béla Bartók: Divertimento / Dance Suite / Hungarian Sketches / Two Pictures - Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Pierre Boulez Bartok: The Piano Concertos Bartók: Violin Concerto No. 2; Rhapsodies Nos. 1 & 2 ASIN: B000001GR9 Release Date: 1996-04-09

Tracks:

1. The Miraculous Mandarian: 01 Beginning
2. The Miraculous Mandarian: 02 First seduction game: the shabby old rake
3. The Miraculous Mandarian: 03 Second seduction game
4. The Miraculous Mandarian: 04 Third seduction game
5. The Miraculous Mandarian: 05 The Mandarin enters and remains immobile in the doorway
6. The Miraculous Mandarian: 06 The girl sinks down to embrace him
7. The Miraculous Mandarian: 07 The tramps leap out, seize the Mandarin and tear him away from the girl
8. The Miraculous Mandarian: 08 Suddenly the Mandarin's head appears between the pillows and he looks longingly at the girl
9. The Miraculous Mandarian: 09 The terrified tramps discuss how they are to get red of the Mandarin at last
10. The Miraculous Mandarian: 10 The body of the Mandarin begins to glow with a greenish blue light
11. The Miraculous Mandarian: 11 She resists no longer, - they embrace
12. Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta Sz 106: 1 Andante tranquillo
13. Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta Sz 106: 2 Allegro
14. Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta Sz 106: 3 Adagio
15. Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta Sz 106: 4 Allegro molto

Amazon.com essential recording

The Miraculous Mandarin is, along with Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, one of the great expressions of musical savagery, and here the composer illustrates the "urban jungle." The music opens with sounds of traffic and commotion, and it's an expressionist nightmare from that point on. Three men mug a woman and force her to lure men into their den to be robbed in turn. One of them turns out to be a wealthy Chinese man whose passion for the woman is so strong that, despite being stabbed, suffocated, and strung up on a lamp cord, he will not die until the woman permits him to embrace her. Then his wounds open and he bleeds to death. Quite a story, and the music, as well as this performance, suits it perfectly. Have fun. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

ONE OF BARTOK'S MASTERPIECES........2004-05-28

I think I'm kind of an idiot about classical music, so I can only make basic comments here. Music for Percussion, Strings, and Celesta is one of Bartok's greatest works, and as such is one of the greatest works in all of Western music. Despite the ostensible eminence the celesta is given in the title of the piece, the dominant keyboard instrument is piano, which is part of the percussion ensemble that serves as the anchor for two string sections. The piece is an amazing exploration of opposites, especially its use of chromatic and diatonic elements. The first movement is a chromatic fugue for strings, and Bartok's use of changing meters gives it a watery effect. From the first movement you can already tell it is one of Bartok's best compositions, simply because every note is so exceptionally placed and the flow is so natural. The second movement is an exhilarating allegro, a tight mesh of melodic themes manipulated with rhythmic and metric variation. The third movement is intensely chromatic "night music" with obscure tonality and fragmentary melodies. Best of all, the fourth movement, where diatonic considerations come to the fore and it is the most varied in rhythm, melody, and pitch, but still structurally sublime. Throughout the piece, the key subjects are changed into new subjects, which undergo their own changes, and eventually morphing back into previous themes. This is done with such uncanny perfection that the music really feels like it takes you places. I know that sounds cheesy. I won't discuss _The Miraculous Mandarin_, though it is very good as well.

Get this if you want to hear a divine performance of one of the musical universe's greatest treasures. (Sorry for the CAPS above, I know it's annoying.)

Darkly Beautiful.......2003-04-06

In response to one of the reviews posted here, I must disagree with the statement that Boulez's conducting makes these works "cynical, pedantic and profoundly ugly." But then, I've never heard the Leonard Bernstein version of The Miraculous Mandarin, so he may have a point (please note sarcasm).

These pieces are conducted in a very unromantic style that suits these works well in particular, and Bartok's entire output in general. There's nothing conventionally "pretty" at all about these works. But they are both truly beautiful, in a profoundly dark sense. The Miraculous Mandarin depicts the violence and the desperation of the story it is based upon, while the Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta is possibly the greatest orchestral work of the twentieth-century. Vivaldi this is not.

Boulez and Bartok, a great combination.......2002-02-12

No one handle Bartok better in our time like Boulez (Fischer and Salonen runners up).

"Music for strings, percussion and celesta" is one of last centures greatest work and Boulez and Orchestra do this fantastic. The "The miraculous mandarin" is a bonus and also one of Bartoks greatest. Great sound too.

Buy this version and you have a (two) masterpiece (s).

A Disk For People Who Dislike Music.......2001-07-28

Maestro Boulez has a fantastic ear, good technique, and a formidable intellect. He has one slight impediment to conducting: he doesn't care for music very much. Or at least not music that embodies thought and feeling. Music for Strings is one of the most sublime testaments in Western music. The shattering climax of the first movement couldn't make Bartok's meaning plainer. But you'll never learn that from this perverse rendition. Boulez deliberately ignores the forceful accents, smoothing over them because he finds strong accents sentimental and stupid. The result is cynical, pedantic, and profoundly ugly. And the less said of this decidedly less than Miraculous Mandarin, the better. Any recording by a conductor who sympathizes with this music is preferable.

Essential Bartok.......2001-02-05

On this disc are two of Bartok's greatest works. The first, The Miraculous Mandarin, is one of his most violent and suggestive. It is very vivid music, painting a palpably clear orchestral picture of the sex and violence of Lengyel's scenario. This is Bartok at his best; blaring brass, screaming strings, pounding percussion. There are also many moments of extreme delicacy; the clarinet solo of the young woman seducing male passers-by, or the moment when the Mandarin's body begins to glow, heightened by a low, wordless chorus. The vivid orchestral storytelling of Mandarin is offset by one of Bartok's most abstract pieces, Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. This is another Bartok masterpiece. Pierre Boulez conducts Bartok's music very well, and this is no exception. Due to the great quality of the playing, conducting, recording and the music itself, and the fact that there are so few complete Mandarins on the market, I would suggest you pick this one up as soon as possible.

Average customer rating: A must have!

Bartok: Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19; Deux Portraits, Op. 5; Divertimento Bela Bartok , Charles Dutoit , Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Chorus , Chantal Juillet (violin) , and Robert Crowley (clarinet) Manufacturer: Polygram Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B00000E547 Release Date: 1993-10-12

Tracks:

1. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op.19: Allegro
2. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op.19: First Decoy Game (Moderato)
3. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op.19: Second Decoy Game
4. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op.19: Third Decoy Game (Sostenuto)
5. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op.19: Maestoso
6. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op.19: Allegro
7. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op.19: Sempre Vivo
8. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op.19: Adagio
9. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op.19: Agitato
10. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op.19: Molto Moderato
11. The Miraculous Mandarin, Op.19: Piu Mosso
12. Deux Portraits, Op.5: I. An Ideal: Andante - Chantal Juillet
13. Deux Portraits, Op.5: II. A Grotesque: Presto - Chantal Juillet
14. Divertimento: I. Allegro non troppo - Richard Roberts/Reynald l' Archeveque/Neal Gripp/Guy Fouquet/Michael Leiter
15. Divertimento: II. Molto adagio - Richard Roberts/Reynald l' Archeveque/Neal Gripp/Guy Fouquet/Michael Leiter
16. Divertimento: III. Allegro assai - Richard Roberts/Reynald l' Archeveque/Neal Gripp/Guy Fouquet/Michael Leiter

Customer Reviews:

A must have!.......2007-07-19

This Miraculous Mandarin is quite possibly my favourite recording of it. Philly/Ormandy was what I thought of as the golden standard for quite a while, and even though I still think everyone needs to hear their recording, the Dutoit/OSM recording is for me more exciting and enjoyable. Mr. Crowley's interpretation of the decoy games is thrilling, and while Gigliotti's tone is as luminous and wonderful as it is on the Philly recording, this interpretation quite frankly makes for better listening and more musical sense, in my opinion. The brass sizzles in just the right way.

Average customer rating:

Bartok: The Miraculous Mandarin/Kodály: Háry Janos/Dances Of Galánta Manufacturer: Delos Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Dances | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music General | Bartók, Béla | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Kodály, Zoltán | ( K ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Ballets & Dances | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music ASIN: B0000006X7 Release Date: 1992-12-11

Tracks:

1. The Miraculous Mandarin (Complete Ballet): Introduction
2. Hary Janos (Suite From The Opera): Prelude
3. Hary Janos (Suite From The Opera): The Viennese Musical Clock
4. Hary Janos (Suite From The Opera): Song
5. Hary Janos (Suite From The Opera): Battle And Defeat Of Napoleon
6. Hary Janos (Suite From The Opera): Intermezzo
7. Hary Janos (Suite From The Opera): Entry Of The Emperor And His Court
8. Dances Of Galanta

Average customer rating: Magnificent Mandarin! Good SACD, could have been better Splendid on SACD!! Where have all the channels gone? Where have all the channels gone?

Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; The Miraculous Mandarin [SACD] Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Bartók, Béla | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Ballets & Dances | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Nevsky Cantata / Pictures at Exhibition (Sl) Boulez Conducts Ravel [SACD] Boulez Conducts Ravel [SACD] Mahler: Symphony No. 10; Walton: Partita for Orchestra; Stravinsky: Firebird Suite [SACD] Dvorák: The Slavonic Dances [SACD] ASIN: B00006B1NE Release Date: 2002-07-30

Customer Reviews:

Magnificent Mandarin!.......2005-10-25

With The Miracolous Mandarin Bartók sought an approach to the symphonic genre although he did not want to recognize. Maybe because the Symphony as musical device was not precisely living its major glory. These transient times announced dark clouds in the imminent future. The nationalism fever, that fed the destiny of so many people was collapsing, acquiring now a new face and arousing the ancient and hidden social resentments specially on the East World: China and Russia.

In this sense Bartók worked out as true shaman. It does not sound exaggerate to state it. Bartok was an illustrated man and his rough dissonances are not entirely a product of his febrile imagination. He knew and felt as many others artists, something terrible was in the verge of the social environment.

Boulez 's performance revives with magnificent lucidity this ferocious sense of obscure moods and sinister horizons. His commitment level about Bartok deserves him to be named adjoined to Ferenc Fricsay, Antal Dorati, Frtz Reiner with an additional acknowledgment; those works were played three decades after the WW2. Nevertheless, Boulez, having born in 1925 was exceptional witness of the horror and the anguish of those times and with accurate expression sense knew to express it with superb eloquence.

That 's why you must acquire this set. Simply out of context. Boulez was mesmerized and that vision can be felt since the first bar. One of the most remarkable recordings of his career. It 's useless to talk the splendor of the new York Philharmonic playing these works; absolutely incandescent.

In what Concerto for Orchestra concerns, forget about it: there are majuscule versions: Reiner-Pittsburgh is to me, the most splendid and perfect achievement ever recorded; Dorati London and Fricsay Rias are just enough to fill your entire collection in this sense. Boluez does not reach the level in this score, that' s why I can not give it five stars.

Absolutely recommended.

Good SACD, could have been better.......2005-01-29

I must admit that I really bought this for the Miraculous Mandarin which is one of my favourite pieces. The best recording of the Suite is Georg Solti's on Decca, which comes achieves the visceral quality that this music really needs. But I wanted a good recording of the complete ballet, preferably on SACD, so this recording seemed a good bet. The reviews on Amazon.com were good, and I thought Boulez would be a good interpreter of this music, so I took a chance on it.

The Miracuolous Mandarin is wonderful, visceral, hard-hitting, strident music, somewhat in the vein of the Rite of Spring. The rushing street scene at the beginning with it's scurrying violins playing augmented octaves and chattering woodwind playing tritones should sweep you up and unsettle you from the first. And the entrance of the Mandarin, blasted out on trombones and horns, again playing the tritone figure, should pin you to the settee. Late on in the piece, the entrance of the wordless choir as the Mandarin, hung by the theives from a light fitting, starts to glow, should be utterly unearthly and prickle the hairs on the back of you neck. Unfortunately, whilst this music is beautifully played here, it remains a tad too polite, and never sweeps you along as it should. Solti, perhaps because of his firey Hungarian temprement acheives the right feel, but unfortunately the Suite finishes halfway through the piece, so some of the best music is excluded.

The concerto orchestra for which most people will buy this disc is better, it is easier music after all. The same beautiful playing is evident, with Boulez's usual precision being very evident. But for this reason it is also a little too polite.

The Concerto was a quadrophonic recording originally, so this should have been made for high-res surround sound. Unfortunately, as with too many other SACD and DVD-A recordings of classical music, the suround mix is a bit shy of using the rear channels. So rather than being immersed in the music, you feel like you're listening to a stereo recording with a bit af rustling from behind your head. I'm an orchestral musician and like to feel in the middle of the mix; I wish producers were a bit more adventurous in using the surround channels. This business ofusing the rear channels for ambient effects is frustrating and ineffectual. I found myself listening to the Stereo layer through the Pro-Logic II music setting on my receiver in order to try and acheive a more "wrap-around" sound.

Splendid on SACD!!.......2003-12-05

Don't be distracted by Mr. "Where are the Channels"...they are all there! This SACD has been very tastefully mixed for 5.1 surround. Subtle use of the rear speaks gives a sense of sitting in the concert hall with only the reverb gently splashing off the rear hall walls. How else should it sound? The orchestra would be in front, right? Nice spread of sound using center channel as well and of course, the performance is outstanding. Very jaw-dropping in terms of when this recording was made too. Hats off again to Sony!

Where have all the channels gone?.......2002-09-10

OK, let me make one thing clear -- if it weren't for the botched mixdown/transfer of this I would have given it 5 stars. The performance is stellar -- definitive. The problem is how the original intent of this recording became perverted.

This was released in the early 70s as a quadraphonic product, either as SQ encoded LP or discrete four channel 8 track (ok this was not the best thing for Columbia to have done, they should have used discrete reel to reel in those days)

Despite the generally atrocious sound quality of the 8 track... the spatial effect of this true surround (surrounded by the orchestra) sound comes through and literally adds a dimension most concertgoers or home listeners can't experience otherwise.

When I heard of SACD multichannel capabilities I was so in hopes that the great quad recordings of the 70s would be resurrected with the digital sound clarity of today. When I saw that this particular recording had been reissued in this format, I thought I had found the Holy Grail!

Imagine my disappointment when I put on the SACD and immediately realized that I was hearing a mostly stereo, "flat" version of what had been glorious four channel sound!! Yes, they remixed this so that it uses the middle speaker (just useless for this sort of thing, IMHO) and what little signal (could barely be heard) there was to the rear speakers was a vague attempt at supplying hall acoustics, possibly added on artificially.

Why must engineers screw with perfection?? I hate the sort of faddish approach to music reproduction that we seem to blindly follow. Automatically, they try to make this fit today's home theater market, which, if I had to guess, consists of a lot of people who do manage to hook up the middle speaker, but find running wires to the back of the room for the surround to be troublesome and so don't bother with it. What Sony should realize though, is that just about anyone with SACD is going to be more serious about their multichannel sound and will likely have good back (side) speaker placement

I so hope Sony will realize their mistake and redo this or at least make it available in the original form to those of us who want the old four channel sound reproduced!

Where have all the channels gone?.......2002-09-10

OK, let me make one thing clear -- if it weren't for the botched mixdown/transfer of this I would have given it 5 stars. The performance is stellar -- definitive. The problem is how the original intent of this recording became perverted.

This was released in the early 70s as a quadraphonic product, either as SQ encoded LP or discrete four channel 8 track (ok this was not the best thing for Columbia to have done, they should have used discrete reel to reel in those days)

Despite the generally atrocious sound quality of the 8 track... the spatial effect of this true surround (surrounded by the orchestra) sound comes through and literally adds a dimension most concertgoers or home listeners can't experience otherwise.

When I heard of SACD multichannel capabilities I was so in hopes that the great quad recordings of the 70s would be resurrected with the digital sound clarity of today. When I saw that this particular recording had been reissued in this format, I thought I had found the Holy Grail!

Imagine my disappointment when I put on the SACD and immediately realized that I was hearing a mostly stereo, "flat" version of what had been glorious four channel sound!! Yes, they remixed this so that it uses the middle speaker (just useless for this sort of thing, IMHO) and what little signal (could barely be heard) there was to the rear speakers was a vague attempt at supplying hall acoustics, possibly added on artificially.

Why must engineers screw with perfection?? I hate the sort of faddish approach to music reproduction that we seem to blindly follow. Automatically, they try to make this fit today's home theater market, which, if I had to guess, consists of a lot of people who do manage to hook up the middle speaker, but find running wires to the back of the room for the surround to be troublesome and so don't bother with it. What Sony should realize though, is that just about anyone with SACD is going to be more serious about their multichannel sound and will likely have good back (side) speaker placement

I so hope Sony will realize their mistake and redo this or at least make it available in the original form to those of us who want the old four channel sound reproduced!

Average customer rating: Brilliant Bartok It's grows on you

Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; The Miraculous Mandarin; Two Pictures Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Bartók, Béla | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music CDs Under $7 | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music CDs $7 - $10 | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Respighi: The Birds; Church Windows; Scarlatti; Tommasini: The Good Humored Ladies Strauss: Orchestral Music from Stage Works Verdi - Messa da Requiem / Ormandy · Rossini - Stabat Mater / Schippers Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra; Don Quixote Debussy: Mer No1-3; Nocturnes No1-3 ASIN: B0000027XH Release Date: 1992-11-17

Tracks:

1. Concerto For Orchestra: I Introduzione
2. Concerto For Orchestra: II Giuoco delle coppie
3. Concerto For Orchestra: III Elegia
4. IV Intermezzo interrotto
5. Concerto For Orchestra: V Finale
6. The Miraculous Mandarin - Suite, Op. 19
7. Two Pictures For Orchestra, Op. 10: I In Full Flower
8. Two Pictures For Orchestra, Op. 10: II Village Dance

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant Bartok.......2003-07-14

In the 1950s and 60s, CBS/Columbia (now Sony Classical) had the great fortune to have three of America's best orchestras and their conductors on its recording roster -- Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra. Nearly a half-century later, sadly only Leonard Bernstein remains a name that even the non-classical music world knows well. But in the world of the compact disc, this is a wonderful thing, because while Leonard Bernstein analog stereo recordings sell at mid-price, classic performances by Ormandy and Szell are regulated to the budget line. Well, my friends there is justice because the vast majority of these "budget line" recordings are not only amazing, but some are still considered definitive more than 40 years later! This 1963 golden-age stereo recording of Bartok's "Concerto for Orchestra" by Ormandy and the Philadelphians is one of the best performances of the piece available, and I would rank it behind only the accounts by Reiner and Bernstein. Throw in terrific performances of "The Miraculous Mandarin" Suite (1962) and the "Two Pictures" (1963), and you've got a classic disc. Never did something of such high quality come at such a small price. Enjoy!

It's grows on you.......2002-10-30

My sister got me this for Christmas after we'd been to a performance of some Bartok music. We'd loved the concert, so I was surprised initially at how little I liked this CD. However, I decided to give it a few more chances, and by the 3rd or 4th listening, I was hooked. It takes a little figuring out, since it's so different from just about anything else, but once you're used to it, it's fantastic!

Average customer rating: Excellent Bartók starter

Bartok Works for Orchestra - Concerto for Orchestra; Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin; Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta Manufacturer: Vox (Classical) ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Bartók, Béla | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General Contemporary | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Classical | Box Sets | Stores | Music ASIN: B000001K6A Release Date: 1992-11-04

Tracks:

1. Concerto For Orchestra: Introduction: Allegro non troppo
2. Concerto For Orchestra: Giuoco delle Coppie: Allegretto scherzando
3. Concerto For Orchestra: Elegia: Andante non troppo
4. Concerto For Orchestra: Intermezzo interrotto: Allegretto
5. Concerto For Orchestra: Finale: Presto
6. Dance Suite: Moderato
7. Dance Suite: Allegro molto
8. Dance Suite: Allegro vivace
9. Dance Suite: Molto tranquillo
10. Dance Suite: Commodo

Tracks:

1. Suite From 'The Miraculous Mandarin': The Robbers - B. Bartok
2. Suite From 'The Miraculous Mandarin': The Girl - B. Bartok
3. The Mandarin - B. Bartok
4. Music For Strings, Percussion & Celesta: Andante tranquillo - B. Bartok
5. Music For Strings, Percussion & Celesta: Allegro - B. Bartok
6. Music For Strings, Percussion & Celesta: Adagio - B. Bartok
7. Music For Strings, Percussion & Celesta: Allegro molto - B. Bartok

Tracks:

1. Divertimento For String Orchestra: Allegro non troppo
2. Divertimento For String Orchestra: Molto adagio
3. Divertimento For String Orchestra: Allegro assai
4. Suite From 'The Wooden Prince', Op.13: Prelude
5. Suite From 'The Wooden Prince', Op.13: Dance Of The Princess In The Forest
6. Suite From 'The Wooden Prince', Op.13: Dance Of The Trees
7. Suite From 'The Wooden Prince', Op.13: Dance Of The Waves
8. Suite From 'The Wooden Prince', Op.13: The Prince And His Wooden Doll
9. Suite From 'The Wooden Prince', Op.13: Dance Of The Princess With The Wooden Doll
10. Suite From 'The Wooden Prince', Op.13: Postlude

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Bartók starter.......2002-01-04

Although at least some of the pieces on this album have better versions available, notably the poerful interprettions of Iván Fisher, there are also far worse, and this isn't one without character. As an introduction to the work of Béla Bartók, it's a must have. The inexpensive 3-disc set is a regular shelf item at B&N. Skrowaczewski's interpretation of Concerto for Orchestra brings out its quirks much more effectively that Dorati's better-known version, and is worth hearing even if you have Fisher's more recent recording (Fisher made two). Some of the other works are reduced to suites, but these edits are common, and I believe done by Bartók himself. I can comfortably say that, unlike some inexpensive Bartók recordings, that if you don't like this album, you probably won't like the better versions that are out there, and if you do like this album, you'll continue to listen to it even if you do get some of the better ones.

Average customer rating: One of Chailly's best recordings More fireworks from Chailly and the sensational RCOA

Bartok: The Miraculous Mandarin, Concerto for Orchestra Bela Bartok , Riccardo Chailly , and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Manufacturer: Decca ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Bartók, Béla | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Ballets & Dances | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music The Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music ASIN: B00005Q670 Release Date: 2002-01-15

Tracks:

1. Concerto for Orchestra: introduzione: Andante non troppo-Allegro vivace
2. Concerto for Orchestra: Giuoco delle coppie: Allegretto scherzando
3. Concerto for Orchestra: Elegia: Andante non troppo
4. Concerto for Orchestra: Intermezzo interrotto: Allegretto
5. Concerto for Orchestra: Finale: Pesante-Presto
6. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: Allegro (Introduction): a bustling street
7. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: The curtain rises...
8. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: First decoy game
9. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: The shabby old rake...
10. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: Second decoy game
11. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: the shy young man...
12. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: Third decoy game
13. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: Horrified, they see...
14. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: The Mandarin enters...
15. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: General consternation...
16. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: At last she...
17. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: the girl sinks...
18. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: She flees...
19. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: The Mandarin catches...
20. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: The tramps leap...
21. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: "We must kill..."
22. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: they think...
23. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: At last the three...
24. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: Suddenly he draws...
25. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: They drag the resisting...
26. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: The lamp falls...
27. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: At her insistence...
28. The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19: the Mandarin's longing...

Amazon.com

Riccardo Chailly's Bartók is strikingly different. Every phrase is subjected to delicate tonal coloring, long-buried instrumental details are brought out to striking effect, and tempos are generally slower than usual. Here's a Bartók with impressionist roots, not the starker, more angular modernist we've come to know. But it's not less exciting--just listen to the wild riot of sound produced by the Concertgebouw at the opening of The Miraculous Mandarin, whose grotesqueries are only enhanced by the wide tonal palette Chailly lavishes upon it. And once you hear his way with the sliding inner string voice accompaniments of the Concerto for Orchestra's second movement, it's hard to accept the way other conductors bury them. The Concerto's opening has weight and gravity few conductors bring to it, just the kind of care the work needs to prevent it from becoming just another orchestral showpiece. The Mandarin, too, benefits from Chailly's approach. Its reputation is based on a sensationalist story line enhanced by sometimes lurid music, but most of the score is more subtle, full of delicate colorations and muted dynamics, here interpreted with poetry and feeling. Terrific sound seals a strong recommendation, especially for the jaded who think the Concerto can no longer surprise. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews:

One of Chailly's best recordings.......2007-02-25

What's so frustrating about Riccardo Chailly is that he has everything necessary for greatness except greatness itself. A master technician who is completely in tune with modernism (traits he shares with Salonen), Chailly can throw up a tapestry of details that never quite add up to a picture. But here in this excellent Bartok program he gets two scores that suit him perfeclty.

Bartok was as precise and meticulous as Chailly, and he was an anti-tomantic as well. The grotesqueries, twadriness, and lurid horrors of The Miraculous Mandarin add up to a japery against innocence and romance, stoll shocking in its brutality today. Chailly doesn't need to underline the horrors, only to play every note of the score perfectly, and so he does. The Concerto for Orchestra proceeds along similar lines: perfect execution, with vigor, of music that has every effect built in by the composer.

In the end, Chailly is playing catch-up with great Bartok performances from Bernstein, Reiner, Boulez, and Ivan Fischer, but on his own terms he's made a very fine recording, outstanding for sheer thrills of execution.

More fireworks from Chailly and the sensational RCOA.......2002-02-16

How many recordings of the "Concerto for Orchestra" do we really need? The answer is: more like this one! This is a lustrous performance, full of excitement, but not as brutal as say, Solti's (whose Bartok recordings I greatly admire). This piece really shows off this orchestra well, coupled with Chailly's instinctively dramatic reading.

The even happier news is that the complete "Miraculous Mandarin" is equally compelling, and perhaps more valuable since it has not been recorded as frequently as the "Concerto." The caliber of the orchestral playing in this is simply astonishing. When I first listened to the disc, I must have re-played the middle section three or four times in a row - the music comes in torrents, raining down on your head. A thrilling experience.

Track Listings:

1. Bach: 6 Sonatas
2. Brahms: 4 Symphonies (complete)/Variations on a Theme by Haydn
3. Brahms:Double Concerto In A Minor, Op.102/Berg:Chamber Concerto
4. Brahms: Piano Sonatas Nos. 2 & 3
5. Brahms: The 3 Violin Sonatas
6. Brahms: The Complete Concertos
7. Cantatas 109 38 & 89 Volume 56
8. Cantatas 143 190 & 41 Volume 19
9. Cantatas 181 126 & 127 Volume 27
10. Cantatas 182 & 66 Volume 29

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

They'll Never Take Us Alive

Bax: Chamber Music for Harp

Beating the Odds [Import]

The New Miles Davis Quintet [Gold CD]

Cubist Blues

Diana Ross & the Supremes Anthology [Import]

Chet Baker Sings [Import] [Original recording remastered]

Beethoven: Most Beautiful Piano Sonatas

Clawhammer Banjo, Vol. 1

Coltrane

Blue

Best That I Could Do 1978-1988 [Import]

Ballroom Dance & Latin Ballroom V.11 [Import]

Soul of a Woman

In 'n Out