Béla BARTÓK
Concerto for Orchestra, The Miraculous Mandarin
(suite)
Kyoto Symphony
Orchestra/Uwe Mund
Arte Nova 74321 77064-2
[57:33]
Crotchet AmazonUK
AmazonUS
Even at super-budget price this CD is not really competitive. Uwe Mund is
a sixty year old Austrian who, from the list of engagements listed in the
short biography printed in the booklet, has clearly had a great deal of
experience conducting orchestras throughout the world, for the last thirteen
years holding the post of conductor-in-chief of the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra.
On the evidence of this recording his players have yet to grasp the necessary
performing style to bring off a truly convincing performance of twentieth
century central European orchestral music.
Bartók intended his Concerto to show off the orchestra, both as a
whole unit and also section by section. Unless an orchestra equals the sheer
commitment demanded of the soloist in a 'regular' concerto, it is unlikely
to succeed in this colourful, witty and dramatic music. The Kyoto players
were perhaps not made aware of this necessity. Their playing on this disc
would be more suited to Wagner or Brahms, although one suspects that this
is the likely default style of any orchestra giving what we have here - a
basic run through.
The first movement is rather ponderous and some of the tutti entries are
far from together. The music is skated over and lacks any of the necessary
Bartókian flavour. The playing is neat and conscientious, but altogether
too safe. The same applies to the Gioca delle Coppie second movement
where wit is sacrificed to accuracy. The gentler music of the Elegia
suits the Kyoto players better, but whilst a decent attempt at irony
is clearly made in the 'Interrupted Intermezzo', all the dramatic music of
the last two movements fails to excite.
The booklet is honest enough to admit that Bartók's suite from his
ballet The Miraculous Mandarin cuts the music off well before the end. Indeed
the final chords from the 'chase' which ends the suite always sound as if
more music must surely follow, leaving a slight sense of disappointment when
none transpires. The packaging does not tell the prospective purchaser whether
this is the complete ballet or just the suite (unlike, for example, Simon
Rattle's identical coupling on EMI). The lack of reference to a chorus should
give the game away to knowledgeable collectors, but others may well be led
into believing that it's the complete ballet on offer here.
Most orchestras rise to the adrenalin filled and super-dramatic music of
The Miraculous Mandarin and the Kyoto Symphony is no exception. This is a
much better performance although whether it comes anywhere close to Dorati's
superb rendition on a mid price Mercury CD remains extremely doubtful.
If this coupling is especially needed at budget price, then the Virgin Classics
double CD from Iwaki and the Melbourne Symphony (coupled with Stravinsky's
Agon and Petrushka) can be given a guarded recommendation, particularly as
the Miraculous Mandarin is performed complete.
But for a real 'straight to the gut' experience in the Concerto For Orchestra,
Reiner's classic Chicago reading on a
mid
price RCA disc can hardly be bettered.
Reviewer
Simon
Foster
http://www.click2classics.co.uk/
