Béla Bartók (1881-1945)

[Moonfish]

Yep, it can also be found in at least two Bartók sets from Boulez on Sony. One that's OOP and another one that has been more recently issued at budget price:

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Are the Boulez recordings of the opera sung in the original Hungarian?

[Moonfish]

If I had to pick just one recording that I feel encapsulates everything I love about Bluebeard's Castle it would be this superb recording:



It can be bought in various incarnations, but the issue I listed above is the one I prefer as the remastering done is quite warm sounding. The soloists Siegmund Nimsgern and Tatiana Troyanos are two of the best vocalists I've heard in this opera. Of course, the duo of Walter Berry and Christa Ludwig is also top-notch, but I find Troyanos to be one of the most affecting roles I've ever heard in Judith. Nimsgern's Bluebeard also has a rich timbre and resonance that goes hand-in-hand with how I personally would like to hear this role sung. Boulez's accompaniment is, to be quite blunt, scorching. He gets the BBC Symphony Orchestra to perform with venom in their blood and razor-sharp fangs. Not to be missed! One of my all-time favorite recordings of anything.

After your vivid and glowing endorsement I simply have to dig through the piles to find this recording.....

[Mirror Image]

Are the Boulez recordings of the opera sung in the original Hungarian?

Yep...

After your vivid and glowing endorsement I simply have to dig through the piles to find this recording.....

...good luck.

[Moonfish]

Yep...

...good luck.

[Mirror Image]

LOL! That looks like my backyard at the moment!

[Moonfish]

LOL! That looks like my backyard at the moment!

Yes, but you probably paid $15 per disc!   
Expensive landscaping!

[TheGSMoeller]

Excellent to hear, Greg. Glad you enjoyed this performance as much as I have. There's something truly magical about Boulez's way with Bartók. The only recording from Boulez I heard that I didn't think much of was his second go-around with Bluebeard's Castle on Deutsche Grammophon where I thought he was rather lethargic and didn't really get to the heart of the work like he did with his first recording.

Can't quite remember the Boulez BB Castle on DG, but these 3 discs of Bartok's (mostly) orchestral music with the Chicago S.O. on DG has always been in my favorites list. The performances are great, the sound is great, even the cover art is great!

[TheGSMoeller]

If my memory is to the trusted the recording of Two Portraits on this disc is my absolute favorite. I like his Concerto for Orchestra on Decca a little better.

One disc that really surprised me was the Dutoit recording of Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta.

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Not a conductor you usually associate with Bartok, but this performance is my standard for that piece, which is probably my favorite work by Bartok (with the possible exception fo the string quartets).

Yes the Dutoit/Montreal is a good one. Montreal S.O. in the late 80s-90s with Dutoit has many phenomenally performed albums.

[Baron Scarpia]

Can't quite remember the Boulez BB Castle on DG, but these 3 discs of Bartok's (mostly) orchestral music with the Chicago S.O. on DG has always been in my favorites list. The performances are great, the sound is great, even the cover art is great!

This an auditory paradox on the "laurel/yanni" level. I find the audio in those recordings utterly insufferable. Literally painful, like fingernails on a chalkboard. Although most people seem to like them.

[TheGSMoeller]

This an auditory paradox on the "laurel/yanni" level. I find the audio in those recordings utterly insufferable. Literally painful, like fingernails on a chalkboard. Although most people seem to like them.

You must hear laurel.   
But yes I like the sound on these.

[Baron Scarpia]

You must hear laurel.   
But yes I like the sound on these.

Actually I did listen to the clip and hear something halfway in between. 

Fortunately for me Boulez recorded most of that stuff for Columbia/Sony back in the day.

[Mahlerian]

You must hear laurel.   
But yes I like the sound on these.

I don't mind the sound on those, and I heard laurel (though if I pay attention to the high frequency stuff, I can hear where "yanny" comes from too).  Then again, I'm not an audiophile.

[Mirror Image]

Yes, but you probably paid $15 per disc!   
Expensive landscaping!

Hah! Indeed.

[Mirror Image]

Can't quite remember the Boulez BB Castle on DG, but these 3 discs of Bartok's (mostly) orchestral music with the Chicago S.O. on DG has always been in my favorites list. The performances are great, the sound is great, even the cover art is great!

Oh yes, those are all great discs, which, contrary to Scrapia's opinion, sound great to these ears.

[amw]

I don't mind the sound on those, and I heard laurel (though if I pay attention to the high frequency stuff, I can hear where "yanny" comes from too).  Then again, I'm not an audiophile.

I can't hear laurel at all in that clip.

The Bartók Boulez series has.... very typical DG early digital sound, ie, kind of artificial sounding but not awful. What I'd consider "good sound" in Bartók is like, the Ozawa/Saito Kinen Orchestra CfO & Strings Percussion Celesta Music on Philips, or the Kocsis Hungarian State Orchestra series on Hungaroton in the "Bartók New Series"

[kyjo]

I'll put in a plug for one of my favorite Bartók recordings (if not my very favorite), these smashing renditions of the the three piano concerti by Bronfman and the LA Phil under Salonen:

[asin]B000002AWA[/asin]

Absolutely exhilarating (and in the case of the 3rd concerto, beautiful) stuff!

[TheGSMoeller]

I don't mind the sound on those, and I heard laurel (though if I pay attention to the high frequency stuff, I can hear where "yanny" comes from too).  Then again, I'm not an audiophile.

I listened on my phone and heard yanny. I heard it on TV and heard laurel. Perhaps even the source of the audio played a difference.

[TheGSMoeller]

I'll put in a plug for one of my favorite Bartók recordings (if not my very favorite), these smashing renditions of the the three piano concerti by Bronfman and the LA Phil under Salonen:

[asin]B000002AWA[/asin]

Absolutely exhilarating (and in the case of the 3rd concerto, beautiful) stuff!

Looks familiar, I feel like I may have had that CD at one point. I lost a bunch of CDs in a move once a long time ago, total tragedy. But that's a killer trio of performers. I may have to re-buy!
Thanks for the rec, Kyjo.

[Baron Scarpia]

I listened on my phone and heard yanny. I heard it on TV and heard laurel. Perhaps even the source of the audio played a difference.

I read somewhere that what you hear depends on the relative sensitivity of your ears to high or low frequencies. I suppose playback system would also contribute.

[Moonfish]

I read somewhere that what you hear depends on the relative sensitivity of your ears to high or low frequencies. I suppose playback system would also contribute.

It also depends on the kind of beverage one is enjoying while listening.....