Any CD collector without
these pieces on his/her shelves, or
anyone who's inadvertently stumbled
across this review, or dropped in on
it en passant, should be aware
of what they're missing. The Miraculous
Mandarin is as colourful, atmospheric,
barbaric, explosive and virtuosic as
the near-contemporary and, curiously,
much more popular Rite of Spring,
and even more demanding of its performers.
The Dance Suite perfectly exemplifies
Bartók's identity with and synthesis
of primitive folk music and sophisticated
1920s rhythmic and harmonic experiments.
In short, no serious-minded music-lover
should be without them!
Whether this new Naxos
issue is the perfect means of acquainting
yourself with these pieces is another
matter. As we've come to expect from
Alsop, and from the Naxos-Alsop-Bournemouth
collaboration in particular, standards
are high. The recording on this SACD
is weighty, with an impressive ambience;
the conducting's compelling; and the
orchestral playing polished. But is
this good enough?
You need to know that
The Miraculous Mandarin was banned
on moral grounds after its first performance,
and not staged again during Bartók's
lifetime. It concerns a prostitute,
her pimps and her customers - most notably
among which, the mandarin. So, no swans
or fairies in this ballet! Just
noisy street traffic, a shabby apartment,
lurid scenes of sex-selling and attempted
killings - by suffocation, stabbing
and hanging. In performance (whether
in the theatre pit, on the concert stage
or in the recording studio) much depends
on the expertise of individual players,
such as the principal clarinet, on whom
Bartók repeatedly relies to do
the prostitute's work for him. The un-named
Bournemouth player is admirably seductive.
A sine qua non in this extraordinarily
evocative and pictorially dramatic score
is the need for fantastic reserves of
power, attack, resilience and stamina;
an infinite range of tonal colourings;
and a pulse (and I don't mean just tempo)
which rises and falls according to the
comings and goings of the drama. In
particular, the great chase - which
ends the concert suite, but which -
in the complete ballet, as here - takes
us seamlessly into the spooky death-scene
- demands tremendous weight and pace:
it really is an orchestral marathon!
If you hadn't already
heard the Solti, Doráti or Fischer
recordings (all Hungarians, note) -
or the bruising Abbado, come to think
of it - you'd probably find this performance
hugely exciting. But my notes include
words like 'tame', 'laboured' and 'civilised'.
It commands admiration, but my heartbeat
seldom raced! There's atmosphere in
plenty, but it doesn't excite as it
ought. True, the Bournemouth brass are
superb - just listen to those hair-raising
muted trombones! And Bartók's
weird and often horrific colourings
are vivid and realistic. But the strings
- massed violas kicking off the fugal
chase sequence, for example - don't
have sufficient body of tone to do the
most savage and hysterical music - and
there's lots of it - full justice.
The Dance Suite
isn't much different. It's very well
played (superb bassoon, tuba, and that
clarinet again) but the effect is too
often studied and detached; hardly the
qualities you need for an extrovert
piece such as this. Steady tempi - sometimes
very steady tempi - and irrational
pauses between numbers don't help maintain
the temperature, however well co-ordinated
and articulated the playing.
I've not mentioned
the Hungarian Pictures. These
are orchestrations of much earlier piano
pieces - some of them little-known,
but others - Three Burlesques,
Four Dirges and For Children,
all dating from 1909-1911 - which have
found their way into the repertory.
They're nicely done here, with all the
poignancy and energy that Bartók's
imaginative arrangements dictate.
Naxos will sell thousands
of copies of this disc, whatever the
reviews say: and I imagine many purchasers
won't necessarily share my misgivings.
If you want guaranteed freedom from
disappointment, and at a similar price,
try the Solti/LSO performances, which
despite being forty years old will have
you on the edge of your seat! Alternatively,
the thrilling Solti/Chicago digital
remake. Or, if you can afford it, the
unbeatable Fischer.
Peter J Lawson
see also review
by Michael
Cookson and Tony
Haywood
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Marin Alsop 
NAXOS 6.110088 [62:12]
