Bartok: The Miraculous Mandarin

Bartok, Bela, Orchestre National de Lyon, Robertson, David

HMG 501777

This disc contains the first recording of a truly complete 'Miraculous Mandarin' from 2002. The composer s son, Peter, restored 30 missing bars, along with various performance directions, from the autograph score. 'The 1924 quasi-ballet that provoked so much indignation at its premiere in Cologne is interpreted by Robertson and his forces with a crisp vivacity rarely evoked on CD.' Tarik O'Regan, The Observer, 14 July 2002 'David Robertson leads a thinking-man's Bartók program. The playing is stunning, all the dynamics are observed, and there's a clarity to all three of the works recorded here that will delight those who love Bartók's brilliant use of the orchestra, his colorations, his inner voices and rhythms. The Four Pieces for Orchestra gets the best performance--the first and third movements are the soul of expressionism, and Robertson gets the strangeness perfectly.' Robert Levine 'There are two good reasons for investigating this disc apart from its stimulating and substantial programme. First, Bartók enthusiasts will be interested to hear The Miraculous Mandarin, the expressionist pantomime completed in 1924, in a new edition... The disc s other strength is that David Robertson and the Lyon National Orchestra offer an unexpected but rewarding perspective on Bartók s expressive world. The orchestra s soft-grained timbre yields sober but satisfying performances that possess gravity, humanity and a tinge of melancholy (especially in the Dance Suite and Four Orchestral Pieces) qualities not usually apparent in more overtly characterised accounts.' • BBC Music, David Breckbill

Works:

• Bartók: Dance Suite, BB 86, Sz. 77
• Bartók: Four Orchestral Pieces Op. 12 (Sz 51)
• Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19, Sz. 73 (ballet)

CD x 1

Harmonia Mundi

13.06.16

3149020177716