Composer: Bela Bartok, Alban Berg
Performer: Olga Szönyi, Muhaly Székely, Helga Pilarczyk
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Antal Dorati
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: ape (image+cue)
Label: Mercury
Size: 350 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle, Sz. 48 (Op.11) – original version – Opening Scene. “Megérkeztünk”
02. Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle, Sz. 48 (Op.11) – original version – Door 1. “Jaj!” “Mit látsz? Mit látsz?” “Láncok, kések”
03. Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle, Sz. 48 (Op.11) – original version – Door 2. “Mit látsz?” “Százkegyetlen szörnyü fegyver”
04. Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle, Sz. 48 (Op.11) – original version – Door 3. “Oh, be sok kincs! Oh, be sok kincs!”
05. Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle, Sz. 48 (Op.11) – original version – Door 4. “Oh! virágok! Oh! ilatoskert!”
06. Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle, Sz. 48 (Op.11) – original version – Door 5. “Ah!” “Lásdez az én birodalmam”
07. Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle, Sz. 48 (Op.11) – original version – Door 6. “Csendes fehér tavat látok”
08. Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle, Sz. 48 (Op.11) – original version – Door 7. “Lásd a régi aszszonyokat”
09. Berg: Wozzeck / Act 1 – Scene 2 (conclusion) – Scene 3: Marie’s room. “Tschin Bum, Tschin Bum, Bum, Bum, Bum! Hörst, Bub?”
10. Berg: Wozzeck / Act 3 – Scene 1: Marie’s room. “Und ist kein Betrug”
11. Berg: Wozzeck / Act 3 – Scene 4 (conclusion) – Scene 5: Street before Marie’s door. “Ringel, ringel, Rosenkranz”
A most powerful and authentic performance
This is the most powerfully conducted Bluebeard among the several versions that I have heard, one of unequalled dramatic thrust and intensity. Dorati, who, as a young man in Budapest, was a pupil of Bartok, brings out the Hungarian folksong based rhythms and colors of this music instead of, as other interpreters tend to do, soften or smooth them out (perhaps in order to create a more overtly dream like atmosphere), which robs the music of its considerable dramatic force. The singers, though lacking the vocal beauty of those in some other recordings, are both native Hungarians, and moreover, the Bluebeard in this recording was tutored in the role by Bartok himself. Arguably then, the singing here, along with the conducting, possesses the most stylistic authority of all the versions currently available.
Finally, the recorded sound is crystal clear and dynamic, thus enhancing the qualities of Dorati’s performance.
If you are a lover of Bartok, this is an essential purchase.