Miraculous Mandarin [Import]

Bartok (Artist), Robertson (Artist), Orchestre National De Lyon (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 10, 2002)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
• ASIN: B000066J5M
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #655,256 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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. The other works, though genuinely good to listen to, lack the sensuality (and danger, in Mandarin) one associates with them; the Lyon forces keep their emotional distance from the music. This is not to say the disc won't excite and please, but for really thrilling performances of Mandarin, especially, go to Fischer or Boulez. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The first recording of a new edition, September 4, 2009

By 

Osvaldo Colarusso "Osvaldo Colarusso" (Curitiba, Paraná Brazil) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Miraculous Mandarin (Audio CD)

This recording is really exceptional. First because it's a rarity records with David Robertson, one of the most competent conductors of his generation. I really can't understand the reason of this .The CD begins with the Dance Suite very well played and one of the most interesting readings of the Four Pieces for orchestra. But the high point of this cd is "The Miraculous Mandarin" .Bela Bartok had a lot of problems with censorship because the plot of "The Miraculous Mandarin" . Because of this , in Germany, for a planned execution ,he reduced some bars of this magnificent music , and the version first published by the Universal was this one , in some places shortened (30 bars at all). The son of Bartok rediscovered the original music and published this again in the Universal. This is the first recording that uses this complete version. I know the two excelent recordings of Boulez ( Boulez used the new edition recently in a concert with the Berlin Philharmonic), The Sandor at the integral, and the recent recordings of Fischer ( fantastic) and Chailly. But Robertson was in 2001 the first that used this version. These 30 bars are very revelatory , with glissandos in the piano, and special effects in the strings.Robertson is very accurate with all details , and his lecture is very impressive .Alsop (Naxos) uses this new edition, but she is by far inferior.