Profana

1. Vaca Profana

2. Ave Nossa

3. Nada Mais (Lately)

4. Atrás da Luminosidade

5. De Volta Ao Começo

6. Onde Está O Dinheiro

7. Chuva de Prata - Gal Costa, , Roupa Nova

8. Cabeça Feita: Tililingo/Tem Pouca Diferença

9. Topázio

10. O Revólver Do Meu Sonho

Profana,Gal Costa,BMG Brazil,Brazilian Pop,Int'l & World Music,Latin Continuum,Latin Pop,MPB

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Average customer rating: Lesser-known Choral Masterpieces Samuel Barber's "Prayers of Kierkegaard", Shaw Excellent Chorale Pieces Performed Impeccably Terrible Recording of the Barber Evocation of the Spirit (2)

Barber: Prayers of Kierkegaard/Bartok: Cantata profanna/Vaughan Williams: Dona nobis pacem Manufacturer: Telarc ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Barber | Barber, Samuel | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Bartók, Béla | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Vaughan Williams, Ralph | ( V ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Vaughan Williams, Ralph | Composers | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Cantatas | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Similar Items: DEBUT ~ Nathan Gunn - "American Anthem" from Ragtime to Art Song / Kevin Murphy Brahms: A German Requiem (New English Adaptation) Bernstein: Symphony No. 3 ("Kaddish"); Chichester Psalms Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem/Four Hymns/Toward The Unknown Region/O Clap Your Hands/Lord, Thou Hast Been Our Re Samuel Barber: The Lovers; Prayers of Kierkegaard ASIN: B0000064U9 Release Date: 1998-03-24

Tracks:

1. O Thou Who Art Unchangeable
2. Lord Jesus Christ, Who Suffered All Life Long
3. Father In Heaven, Well We Know That It Is Thou
4. Father In Heaven! Hold Not Our Sins Up Against Us
5. Part I - Nathan Gunn
6. Part II - Nathan Gunn
7. Part III - Nathan Gunn
8. I. Agnus Dei
9. II. Beat! Beat! Drums!
10. III. Reconciliation
11. IV. Dirge For Two Veterans
12. V. The Angel Of Death
13. VI. O Man Greatly Beloved

Amazon.com

It's unclear why this program works so well, but it does. It may be because all three composers resolutely affirmed the virtues of tonality at a time when it was terribly out of fashion, though each did it in his own way. Barber was a genuine neo-Romantic before we had the term to describe him, so his heartfelt and emotional music was simply called "backward looking" while he was alive. Vaughan Williams and Bartók were both authorities on folk song who used the "uncouth vocal utterance of the people" to forge fresh and contemporary musical styles. Robert Shaw, one of the great choral music conductors of all time, plays all three works with a near ideal combination of clarity and intensity, and, of course, the chorus is sensational. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

Lesser-known Choral Masterpieces.......2005-12-13

A disk of lesser-known choral/orchestral works by great masters of composition are always a welcome addition, and this CD doesn't fail, perhaps giving these works new life and hopefully a new future of performances.

The Danish-born theologian Soren Kierkegaard and his prayers from various writings are the subject of Samuel Barber's Prayers of Kierkegaard. The prayers are very personal, having to do with redemption and God's love, a keen insight to existentialism, and Barber's music expresses it well. While a unified whole, the 15+ minute work is divided into four separate prayers, each a style and a setting different from one another. Barber lets the listener know this is religious music by setting the opening text in chanting men's voices in an old church mode. But when the orchestra comes in, a 20th century declamatory statement changes the mood. Barber again looks to the past with simple contrapuntal choral writings. The second prayer is a supplicatory soprano solo sung by Carmen Pelton. A 20th century chanting chorus, reminiscent of thick Russian orthodox music opens the third prayer. Barber again brings back contrapuntalism and a great dissonant melody eventually dividing into two choruses. The final prayer begins with a wild instrumental modal dance section, and the end brings back the simple chant-like feel of the beginning, and the final, modern chorale ending with a positive outlook. Scored for orchestra, soprano, alto, and tenor soloists, and chorus, Barber's unique, and often intimate compositional styles, shine through here. The motives used throughout are enjoyable, the music creates great drama, and the work is quite inspired. It is very much spiritual and artistically pleasing.

Bartok's Cantata Profana is a different matter. It tells the story of nine sons who were taught nothing but to wander the forest and hunt stags. One day they wander too far into the enchanted part of the forest, only to be turned into stags themselves. Bartok sets this 20 minute work in three parts. The first showcases the double, sometimes antiphonal, chorus in thick imitation and dissonance. The chorus explains the back-story and relays the wandering in the forest, including a rather frenzied rhythmical jaunt. The second section is a feature for tenor and bass soloists, the tenor being the best-loved brother turned stag, and the bass being the father who went wandering looking for them. The father pleads with them, but as stags, they can't go home to their weeping mother. The short third section brings back themes and texts from the first and the second with tenor soloist exclamation. This music is interesting, not as folk-like as I expected, very modern sounding with dissonance leading the tonality. The soloists are required to sing some extreme ranges for the angst of the text and the chorus parts are difficult as well. The demonic chanting in the third section show the unusual harmonies and subject matter, not to mention musical virtuosity, of this very unusual, yet interesting choral work.

Unfortunately, Walt Whitman's poems about war and Vaughan Williams' music of the same vein, will probably never have little meaning for the public. The six movement Dona Nobis Pacem is the most stirring work on this disk, with various perspectives of war; texts by Walt Whitman primarily, some biblical texts, and an impassioned British speech. The Agnus Dei states the suffering and sacrifice of Christ, but ends with grant us peace. Beat! Beat the Drums! is a bombastic march about how war affects all citizens, not just those who fight. Reconciliation is a lush and somewhat haunting song on the tides of war, in a personal perspective. The Dirge for Two Veterans is a procession which builds to a great climax and dies away; the text visualizing a community honoring the passing of two local veterans. The Angel of Death and O Man Greatly Beloved is a magnum opus of contrasting moods, which erupts into a paean of "Glory to God in the Highest, and peace and goodwill to man". Even today, well after WWII when the music was written, certainly well after Walt Whitman's Civil War era's words, these performances of Dona Nobis Pacem is so personal, not a dry eye leaves the concert hall. The disk presents a moving and electrifying performance.

All the works on this disk, especially with the wide range of styles, is performed flawlessly. As always, Robert Shaw's choruses have clean and crisp diction, with good vocal technique. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra gives these works a Romantic fullness needed, and the soloists are fine as well. While together, the program seems odd, the works in themselves deserve more popularity. A nice addition to the choral/orchestral library.

Samuel Barber's "Prayers of Kierkegaard", Shaw.......2005-09-25

This recording track seems to be lower in quality than most of Shaw's. Both the recording and the chorale singing is of lesser quality than the other selections and most of Shaw's works.

However, I can still recommend this CD overall.

Excellent Chorale Pieces Performed Impeccably.......2005-06-26

Three composers, who don't seem to have a lot in common, are on display here, and yet the cumulative effect is quite stirring thanks to the late Robert Shaw, as he masterfully leads the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in this splendid 1998 recording. Samuel Barber's "Prayers of Kierkegaard" is a powerful chorale work that is almost cinematic in its dramatic effect. Commissioned by the Koussevitsky Foundation during WWII, the composer did not complete the work until 1954. The piece is in the form of a single-movement cantata, of four prayers by the Danish theologian Søren Kierkegaard. Soprano Carmen Pelton has a lovely solo on "Lord Jesus Christ, Who suffered all life long" and joins the chorus for the haunting "Father in Heaven, well we know that it is Thou".

Béla Bartók's "Cantata profana" ("The Nine Enchanted Songs") possesses strong rhythmic vitality in this arrangement, especially the harp glissandos implying supernatural forces at work, and is given a fine reading by tenor Richard Clement and baritone Nathan Gunn providing superb vocal turns as son and father, respectively, in the middle section. The most affecting set is the last, Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Dona nobis pacem", which was composed in the mid-1930's as a warning of the threat of war in Europe. His sources were diverse - the poetry of Walt Whitman, the Bible, the Latin Mass, and from a speech made in the British House of Commons during the Crimean War in the 1850s by John Bright - but the sound is consistently mesmerizing. Pelton particularly shines on "Agnus dei", and the concluding "O man greatly beloved" is awe-inspiring. However, the most impressive passage is the "Dirge for Two Veterans", which effortlessly goes from patriotic wartime fervor to mournful prayer. This is a clean recording with especially impressive singing.

Terrible Recording of the Barber.......2002-01-10

I will disagree with the other reviewers here. The Barber is a wonderful piece, dreadfully and lifelessly performed here. The chorus has no emotion. The recording is unfocused...the strings sound absolutely amateurish throughout. Schenck's work on Koch is much superior, even though rough at the edges; it bristles with electricity, and the soprano is just perfect for the second section.

Evocation of the Spirit (2).......2001-02-25

Following the wonderful Evocation of the Spirit CD (Gorecki, Part, Martin, Barber and Shoenberg) this is an ideal follow up. The twentieth century really did produce some wonderful choral music and although the Barber and Bartok here are not totally consistent, the Vaughan-Williams is great.

Average customer rating: Great Offering by two of my favorites. One of the better recordings Bartók & Boulez. A fantastic set! Boulez conducting Bartok's "Cantata Profana" Boulez good.

Béla Bartók: The Wooden Prince / Cantata Profana - John Aler / John Tomlinson / Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus / Pierre Boulez Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music General | Bartók, Béla | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Ballets & Dances | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Cantatas | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Deutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music Similar Items: Béla Bartók: Divertimento / Dance Suite / Hungarian Sketches / Two Pictures - Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Pierre Boulez Béla Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin / Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta - Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus / Pierre Boulez Béla Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra / 4 Orchestral Pieces - Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Pierre Boulez Bartok: The Piano Concertos Bartók: Violin Concerto No. 2; Rhapsodies Nos. 1 & 2 ASIN: B000001GGY Release Date: 1992-11-10

Tracks:

1. Cantata Profana Sz 94, The Nine Splendid Stags: There Was One An Old Man. Molto moderato - Allegro molto
2. Cantata Profana Sz 94, The Nine Splendid Stags: But Their Father Grew Impatient, Andante
3. Cantata Profana Sz 94, The Nine Splendid Stags: There Was One An Old Man.., Moderato
4. The Wooden Prince Sz 60 (Op. 13), Ballet Pantomime In One Act By Bela Bazs: Introduction, Molto moderado
5. The Wooden Prince Sz 60 (Op. 13), Ballet Pantomime In One Act By Bela Bazs: First Dance: Dance Of The Princess In The Forest
6. The Wooden Prince Sz 60 (Op. 13), Ballet Pantomime In One Act By Bela Bazs: Second Dance: Dance Of The Trees, Assai moderato
7. The Wooden Prince Sz 60 (Op. 13), Ballet Pantomime In One Act By Bela Bazs: Third Dance: Dance of the Waves, Andante
8. The Wooden Prince Sz 60 (Op. 13), Ballet Pantomime In One Act By Bela Bazs: Fourth Dance: Dance Of The Princess With The Wooden Prince, Allegro
9. The Wooden Prince Sz 60 (Op. 13), Ballet Pantomime In One Act By Bela Bazs: Fifth Dance: The Princess Pulls And Tugs At The Wooden Prince, Meno mosso (subito)
10. The Wooden Prince Sz 60 (Op. 13), Ballet Pantomime In One Act By Bela Bazs: Sixth Dance: She Tries To Attract The Real Prince With Her Seductive Dancing
11. The Wooden Prince Sz 60 (Op. 13), Ballet Pantomime In One Act By Bela Bazs: Seventh Dance: Dismayed, The Princess Attempts To Hurry After The Prince, But The Forest Bars Her Way, Moderato

Amazon.com

Pierre Boulez has recorded all of this music before, and very successfully. Those recordings are available at mid-price on Sony, and though the recorded sound is a bit better on these newer discs, you can't really go wrong either way. Boulez has always brought a special measure of incisiveness and clarity to Bartók, sometimes at the cost of a certain emotional warmth--but that's not a criticism that applies to this pair of immaculately played performances. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra knows this music as well as any orchestra in the world, and its chorus is one of the country's finest. So if the coupling appeals to you, go for it! --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

Great Offering by two of my favorites........2007-03-17

Long before I started appreciating Stravinsky, Bartok was my favorite 20th century composer, mostly on the strength of his piano concerti and his Divertimento for Celeste, percussion and so on, plus his adaptation of Hungarian folk music (being 1/2 Hungarian helped a lot here). So, it's surprising it took me so long to discover these works, but what a discovery they are, especially in the hands of the preeminant conductor of modern music, Maestro Boulez. I am not a great fan of ballet performances, but this music (as with Stravinsky's 'The Rites of Spring') really make me interested in seeing this 'Ballet pantomine' performed. This is also easily more interesting than some of Bartok's other works, such as the first piano concerto.

One of the better recordings Bartók & Boulez........2005-11-16

This is, with no doubt, one of the better recordings Boulez has done of Bartók's music, as far as I know. I have all his new Bartók recordings for DG, in which we can find jewels like the Piano Concertos or the Four Pieces. I know too his old recording of the Wooden Prince for CBS and this is even much more better, and the old one was really great too.

Boulez conducting is clear in all the pieces, specially in the Wooden Prince and the orchestral playing is really breathtaking, something outstanding, ideal for Bartók's music, in which they have a long-term relation, as you can listen in his previous recordings with Reiner, Abbado or Solti.

The Cantata Profana is marvellous too, singers, chorus and orchestra give them best to build a marvellous tale, full of colour and mistery, as the Cantata is a hermetic piece in fact. I've listened this work in Solti's hands and of course it could be a bit more idiomatic and folk, more hungarian, but even so, Boulez's version is marvellous, specially from the technical point of view.

The recording is amazing, I think this CD was Grammy for the technical recording, there's no doubt about the recording quality, it's clear, well-balanced, great range of dynamics, very well recorded all the orchestral sections...

In my opinion a CD which is a must be for all Bartók's lovers. Nowadays this CD it's out of DG's catalogue, so don't miss this oportunity.

A fantastic set!.......2005-11-03

Pierre Boulez, as the good wine seems to improve through the years and enhancing exponentially in what Bartok concerns. This work is another additional sample of his magisterial enhancement through the years. The particular emphasis in the architectonic lines and the astonishing handle of the dark dissonances, confers him a well deserved seat of honor. This Wooden Prince is one of the best you can get in the market, as well as Cantata Profana, that you may easily consider the best version ever recorded to date.

A golden album. Absolutely recommended.

Boulez conducting Bartok's "Cantata Profana".......2000-08-19

I truly claim that when it comes on performing Bartok, Boulez is the best. "Cantata Profana" is one of my favorite music by Bartok, and the performance is excellent. Compared to Solti's recording, it was a bit more exciting, but less melancholy. But the performance is very fine: the orchestra, the choir, and the two singers, a bit finer than Solti's, even though he's a very excellent conductor himself.

"The Wooden Prince" is pretty fine too, even though this is the only recording I heard so far. But Boulez is good enough.

If you want Bartok, I believe that you should buy Boulez, from Grammophon. There's a collection of Bartok's music conducted by Boulez.

Boulez good........2000-02-11

This disc is easily one of my very favorite discs in my 500-or-so CD collection. Some of my friends in the Chicago Symphony mentioned that when Boulez first conducted them, most of them hated him because he was stuffy, academic, and annoying. However, every one of them says that as he has come back to Chicago to conduct from time to time recently, he is one of the most beloved and respected conductors they now play under. They cite his recently acquired sense of humor and the undeniabile superiority of his musicianship. In any event, on this disc one can certainly discern that the entire orchestra is very happy to have him up front: they all play their best here. (I am always amused when I listen to this recording, however, at one slightly late tympani beat.)

Average customer rating:

Bartok: Cantata Profana / Kodaly: Psalmus Hungaricus Manufacturer: Hungaroton ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Bartók, Béla | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Kodály, Zoltán | ( K ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Cantatas | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Classical | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B00000309H Release Date: 1995-09-19

Tracks:

1. The Nine Enchanted Stags
2. Cantata Profana: I Volt egy oreg apo
3. Cantata Profana: II Az erdoket jarta, hej-haj!
4. Cantata Profana: III Volt egy oreg apo
5. Psalmus hangaricus
6. Psalmus hungaricus, Op. 13

Average customer rating:

Lepo Sumera: Symphony No. 6; Cello Concerto; Music profana Manufacturer: Bis ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Similar Items: Lepo Sumera: Symphonies Nos.1-3 Sumera: Symphony; Music William Alwyn: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 5; Lyra Angelica (Harp Concerto) ASIN: B0000AOV6G Release Date: 2003-07-29

Average customer rating:

Musica Viva Manufacturer: Col Legno ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Bartók, Béla | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Messiaen | Messiaen, Olivier | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Stravinsky | Stravinsky, Igor | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Debussy | Debussy, Claude | ( D ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Incidental Music | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Early Music | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Early Music | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music | Requiems General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music Cantatas | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Classical | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B00004WK5R Release Date: 2000-08-29

Average customer rating: A touching memento excellent

Sir George Solti: The Last Recording; Bartók, Kodály, Weiner Manufacturer: Decca ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Bartók, Béla | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Kodály, Zoltán | ( K ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Cantatas | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music The Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music ASIN: B000006P4Y Release Date: 1998-05-12

Tracks:

1. Cantata profana, BB100 - Sz94: Molto moderato
2. Cantata profana, BB100 - Sz94: Andante
3. Cantata profana, BB100 - Sz94: Moderato
4. Serenade For Small Orchestra, Op. 3: Allegretto, quasi andantino
5. Serenade For Small Orchestra, Op. 3: Lebhaft, sehr rhymisch
6. Serenade For Small Orchestra, Op. 3: Andantino
7. Serenade For Small Orchestra, Op. 3: Allegro molto
8. Psalmus hungaricus, op.13: Andante molto appassionato
9. Psalmus hungaricus, op.13: 'Kesr annyi nem volna'
10. Psalmus hungaricus, op.13: Adagio

Customer Reviews:

A touching memento.......2002-08-08

It seemed so fitting for Georg Solti's final recording to be made "back home" that I really wanted the album to be outstanding. And it is a fine recording and, mostly, a set of fine performances. Solti's commitment to the music is never in doubt, and the BFO play to the manner born. The Weiner suite, in particular, receives as relaxed and musical a performance as Solti ever produced. Bartok's masterly cantata benefits from the magnificent baritone of Alexandru Agache, and in both that and the Kodaly, the chorus sings superbly. The recording is, however, let down by the horribly strained tenor of Tamas Daroczy. This leaves Cantata Profana still without a fully adequate recording. Ferencsik's classic account is in poor sound; and Boulez' version, while superbly executed, lacks in passion. If only Philips would record it with Ivan Fischer and his BFO, and with top-flight soloists! Fortunately, Psalmus Hungaricus has benefited from numerous stellar recordings, of which my favorite remains the Kertesz (also on Decca, from the late 60's). All in all, then, a touching memento of Solti's career, but most worthwhile for the least familiar music: Leo Weiner's lovely Suite.

excellent.......2002-05-23

almost all classical is excellent. that's all i have to say about that.

Average customer rating: Great Conducting, Problematic Text & Singers Unique and valuable but a non-starter

Bartok: Bluebeard's Castle/Cantata Profana Bela Bartok , Ferenc Fricsay , and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau/Martha Topper Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Bartók, Béla | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Cantatas | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Hungarian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Deutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music ASIN: B000031WYH Release Date: 2001-02-13

Tracks:

1. Wir sind am Ziele
2. Dies ist also Blaubarts Feste
3. Grobe schweigende Turen
4. Weh! - Was siehst Du?
5. Was siehst Du?
6. Sieh nur den Schatz!
7. Ach! Blumenpracht!
8. Ah! - Sieh so weit die Blicke reichen
9. Weibes stilles Wasser seh ich
10. Schau die fruher'n Frauen alle
11. Fruh am Morgen kam die erste
12. Cantana profana: Wunder hort ihr sagen - Radio-Symphonie-Orchester-Berlin
13. Cantana profana: Lange harrt der Alte - Radio-Symphonie-Orchester-Berlin
14. Cantana profana: Wunder ward euch kund heut' - Radio-Symphonie-Orchester-Berlin

Customer Reviews:

Great Conducting, Problematic Text & Singers.......2005-06-01

Ferenc Fricsay (pronounced, I am told, fair-entz free-shoy) was a superb Bartok conductor. I have long harbored a slight preference for his mono DG recordings of Concerto For Orchestra and the Music For Strings, Percussion & Celesta over the more celebrated stereo RCA accounts by Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony (of course, I keep both!). So I was REALLY looking forward to hearing Fricsay's way with Bartok's operatic masterpiece "Bluebeard's Castle" and the composer's most significant choral work "Cantata Profana." And in terms of conducting, there is little here to disappoint: these are wonderfully impassioned, extremely detailed accounts in good 1957 stereo sound (Bluebeard) and decent 1951 mono (Cantata).

So, where are the problems? For me, this Bluebeard is just a little disappointing because: 1) there are some unfortunate cuts in the score and the spoken prologue is omitted, 2) it's sung in German instead of Hungarian, and 3) the vocal casting is less than ideal. Let me try to explain, point by point.

Bluebeard's Castle, in my view, ranks with Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande as one of the two great modern opera masterpieces of the early 20th Century. And, curiously, I feel that both actually work more satisfactorily through listening at home than in the opera house (I have seen both works staged, and somehow they fell short of what I imagined in my own mind). While Bluebeard owes a debt to Wagner, the Richard Strauss of "Elektra," and the vocal declamation of Mussorgsky, it is nevertheless a very original and unique work. Bartok's own idiom, based on a parlando-rubato tradition in Hungarian folk music, is filled with a fateful, almost ballad-like allegory about individual loneliness and the dark consequences of peering too insistently into another person's soul. Bartok's music, while impassioned, is also saturated with ambiguity and ambivalence. So interpreting it effectively is a pretty tricky business.

For me, it works best when the ENTIRE score is used (there's not a single wasted note in Bartok's music). That includes the bard's spoken prologue, which provides listeners with valuable information on just what Bartok and his librettist Bela Balasz are going to portray. Example: "Once upon a time ... the phrase is old, and yet it gives my rhyme the tempting of a half-open door ... Enter! A realm waits you that without you cannot come into being; the realm of myth! Still thinking of your lives? There find them with New meanings, for our story is about you, Ladies and Gentleman."

The rhythms and inflections of Bartok's opera are so inextricably entwined with the Hungarian language that I find it EXTREMELY odd that a Hungarian conductor like Fricsay preferred to perform it in a German translation. And that peculiarity is only magnified by the Bluebeard of baritone Fischer-Dieskau and the Judith of mezzo-soprano Hertha Topper. F-D is, of course, a great singer, and he's in fine voice here. But his diction is SO Germanic (with all those rolled r's and spitting sibilants), and frankly he shouts and bellows more than he sings. It's an extremely exaggerated reading of a character that needs subtlety and ambiguity to be sympathetic. Hertha Topper is quite engrossing, despite a slight wobble. But Fricsay's command of the score is absolute: hundreds of tiny details leap out and grab your attention (e.g., the little harp quivers in the Lake of Tears), and the orchestral playing is magnificent. However, due to the shortcomings noted, I think this performance is more of a supplement than a core selection.

The first-ever studio Bluebeard, recorded in 1953 for the Bartok LP label, was given absolutely complete and in Hungarian. Although in mono, the engineering (by the composer's son Peter Bartok) is one of the glories of the LP era (terrific sound that's better than almost ANYTHING from Mercury or RCA). The fine, subtly under-played Bluebeard of bass Endre Koreh and the attractive Judith of soprano Judith Hellwig are major assets (the speaking role of the Bard in the prologue is given by Erno Lorsy). Another real plus is the great leadership of Austro-Czech conducter Walter Susskind with a first-class pickup orchestra called the New Symphony of London. Susskind's pacing is just about perfect, and he's every bit as detailed as Fricsay. Susskind's Bluebeard (I've owned it on LP for over 30 years) remains my recommendation for the best studio recording, and it's now available on CD for $17 directly from Bartok Records on the internet.

But there is one other recording that, in some respects, bests all the others. It's a "live" 1951 performance with the Budapest Radio Orchestra, led by Hungarian conductor Georges Sebastian (1903-1989) and formerly available on an Arlecchino CD (see my review). It has the great basso profundo Mihaly Szekely as Bluebeard (Bartok's favorite in the role), for whom Bartok actually transposed down the tessitura and slightly re-orchestrated the work in a revised edition (this performance was its European premiere). Szekely's Bluebeard is simply magnificent: straightforwardly noble, gorgeously sung, and tragically sympathetic. The Judith is mezzo Klara Palanky, long regarded in Hungary as the last century's greatest exponent of the role. She is plaintive, sensitive, and in fine voice (though she ducks the High C "Ah!" at the opening of the 5th Door). Sebastian leads a performance in good mono sound that is painted in broader strokes than Fricsay's but which is no less impressive in its cumulative force (like Fricsay and most other conductors, Sebastian omits the spoken prologue). If you can find it, this is a Bluebeard that any Bartok lover will enjoy hearing.

Strangely, I'm not as bothered by the Cantata Profana being in mono and also sung in German. The orchestral power of Fricsay's reading is simply overwhelming, and Helmut Krebs is the best tenor I have ever heard in this role.

For Fricsay's inspired conducting in Bluebeard and the outstanding account of the Cantata, this CD is recommended. But there is more to this opera than we are given here, and Bartok's operatic masterpiece is heard more fully in the versions conducted by Susskind & Sebastian. There are other good recordings (e.g., Dorati & Kertesz), but these are the three I prefer to hear.

Jeff Lipscomb

Unique and valuable but a non-starter.......2001-12-31

Attention fellow listeners: these notable performances are all sung in German, not Hungarian as Bartók originally intended. Although the late and exceptionally talented maestro Fricsay was himself Hungarian and Bartók's music champion, those two works didn't enjoy any popularity outside his home country at the time he recorded them. Therefore, he was obviously trying to do his best in order to reach a larger audience in Germany back in the 50's and 60's.

The original LP, which contained only the opera, received continental Europe's most prestigious classical music prize and set new standards for subsequent recordings of this masterpiece. It is very well performed and recorded, with the closing pages achingly beautiful and poetic in Dieskau's voice, an also distinctive if less inspired Judith in Topper's voice, plus an extremely idiomatic orchestra under Fricsay. The recording's atmosphere, depth and body were well preserved in this immaculate remastering -- and rightly so. Needless to say, much the same goes for the splendid Cantata, if technically less impressive as a recording.

Now, to be fair, listening to Bartók's music in German is like listening to Wagner in Italian or Verdi in French: it really doesn't work. The Cantata suffers even more than the opera with this Teutonic treatment, the words not fitting the melodic lines, the diction alien to the music. Anyway, if you are a Dieskau fan, you just can't miss it, his wonderful voice was at its golden apex at the time.

Incidentally, I bought this CD from the German Amazon virtual store long ago when it wasn't available anywhere else, and still love it dearly. If you are new to this repertoire, though, try the famous Kertesz's Bluebeard first, with Walter Berry and his real-life wife Christa Ludwig in the leading roles, or Sir Georg Solti's magnificent set with Sylvia Sass and Kolos Kováts among other (in my opinion, less compelling and inspired) performances still available right here at Amazon.

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Dimitri Terzaki: String Quartet No. 5; Songs without Words, Liturgia profana Manufacturer: Cpo Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music More Titles at Least 20% Off | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music All Classical Music Blowout | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Opera & Vocal | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music ASIN: B000AMMSGM Release Date: 2005-09-20

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The Art of Janos Ferencsik Vol. 2 Manufacturer: Arlecchino ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Bartók, Béla | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Cantatas | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Hungarian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Cantatas | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music ASIN: B00000DMOY Release Date: 1996-10-03

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Cantana Profana Bartok , Ferencsik , and Budapest So Manufacturer: Hungaroton ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music ASIN: B00008F6IN Release Date: 1993-06-07

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