Bartok: Concerto for orchestra / Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta

Bartok: Concerto for orchestra / Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta

Bartok: Concerto for orchestra / Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta
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CD Details

Composer: Bela Bartok
Conductor: Leonard Bernstein
Orchestra: New York Philharmonic Orchestra
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1998-11-24
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
  1. Concerto For Orchestra: I. (Introduzione). Andante Non Troppo
  2. Concerto For Orchestra: II. (Giuoco Delle Coppie). Allegretto Scherzando
  3. Concerto For Orchestra: III. (Elegia). Andante, Non Troppo
  4. Concerto For Orchestra: IV. (Intermezzo Interrotto). Allegretto
  5. Concerto For Orchestra: V. (Finale). Pesante - Presto
  6. Music For Strings, Percussion And Celesta: I. Andante Tranquillo
  7. Music For Strings, Percussion And Celesta: II. Allegro
  8. Music For Strings, Percussion And Celesta: III. Adagio
  9. Music For Strings, Percussion And Celesta: IV. Allegro Molto

Music reviews of Bartok: Concerto for orchestra / Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta

Music Review: Generally Unconvicing, But a Nice Coupling
Rating: 3 Stars

If you don't listen to, and review, serious music for a living, comparing and contrasting tens of versions of each major composition--and how many can do that?--you invariably lock into your favorite recording of any giving piece. This tends to "groove" your ears and musical soul. For almost 50 years, the gold standard for this Concerto has been Reiner and the Chicago, and for listeners of my age--I've had the Reiner for 30 years--we have worn our vinyl RCAs flat in our love for this music. Reiner was Bartok's friend from their student in Budapest and later became the powerful proponent--and authoritative interpreter--of Bartok's work.

One thing jazz musicians who cross over into classical music (Benny Goodman, Wynton Marsalis), or vice versa (Andre Previn), teach us is that, for ANY music, Ellington has the last word: "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing." All great conductors swing. (Listen to how Reiner swings this concerto, or John Barbirolli swings--yes, swings--the Mahler 9th, and your ears will change forever.) Bernstein, who knew jazz idiom intimately, almost intuitively, usually swings with the best. But in this early recording, he mostly plods, with a metronomic mediocrity that defies any expectation.

Bernstein had clearly listened to, and adopted aspects of, Reiner's authoritative version--in passages of the first and fifth movement, tempi and section articulation seem to duplicate Reiner's, note for note. (I have a recollection, which I cannot document, that Reiner played the Concero according to, or very close to, the timings expressly prescribed by the meticulous Bartok.) I recognize that the flaw may be my ears and what they're accustomed to, but for me, with few exceptions, the Bernstein drags throughout and, as such, sounds lackluster and ponderous.

The main exception is in the presto finale, which is played at an absolutely blistering pace and is quite stirring. As I listened, I imagined the bows of the string players beginning to smoke, then bursting into flames, then entire string sections igniting. That hot. These are Bernstein's most impressive moments on this disc--and he also brings the orchestra nicely to a crescendo, always a strongpoint for melodramatic Lenny.

The Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celeste is a packaging bonus, however, which in the era of the CD, has become the standard coupling for the Concerto. The Music for Strings is played, to my mind and ears, to a much higher standard.

In all, however, I would pass on this CD and opt for the Reiner. Even if you're collecting Bartok, many superior recordings (particularly if you do not HAVE to have digital) of this music--including the Antal Dorati and Ferenc Fricsay--remain in the catalogue at a low budget price.

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The 1959 Concerto for Orchestra was one of Bernstein's first recordings as music director of the New York Philharmonic. It's still worthy of comparison with the classic 1954 Reiner recording considered standard by most critics. Bernstein gets the orchestra inside the music, expressing the range of Bartók's emotional world from the spookily mysterious opening to the hilarity of the intermezzo to the joyous finale. This performance makes the piece sound less conservative than it sometimes does--a decided plus. The orchestra plays extremely well, with fine work from its legendary first-chair players. Music for Strings, Percussion, and Cello, recorded two years later, is similarly effective. This coupling was previously available in a "Royal Edition," and if you have that, you don't need to replace it. But this latest mastering sounds fine for its age. --Leslie Gerber

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