Album

While Pierre Boulez's high performance standards are largely met on this CD, his perfectionism creates problems in Bartók's Dance Suite. What should be a boisterous dance work without reservations is presented here in an overly pristine and cautious performance, and the suite is made to sound like a series of pretty vignettes. This is not what Bartók intended, and Boulez should have known better. His recording of the same work in 1972 with the New York Philharmonic is more energetic and vital, with structure being a major concern and beautiful sonorities less of an obsession. The rest of this disc is less problematic. Bartók's Pictures (2) is treated as a rhapsody, which the work's slow-fast form and Hungarian themes clearly indicate. Considering that Bartók's early sound was influenced by Liszt and Strauss, Boulez renders the work in a romantic manner, without a trace of parody. The Hungarian Sketches require a less studied approach, since the music itself is direct and most appealing when played as written. Boulez and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra give it a brilliant performance. The Divertimento for string orchestra receives the most bracing reading on the disc. The strings play with brusqueness and vigor in keeping with the work's neo-Classical orientation.

© Blair Sanderson, All Music Guide

CD 1
Béla Bartók Composer Dance Suite (Táncszvit), BB86a, Sz.77 Work Recorded 1992 16:37 Chicago Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Pierre Boulez Conductor
1	1.Moderato	3:43			$0.99
2	2.Allegro molto	2:16			$0.99
3	3.Allegro vivace	2:57			$0.99
4	4.Molto tranquillo	2:35			$0.99
5	5.Comodo	1:01			$0.49
6	6.Finale: Allegro	4:05			$0.99
Béla Bartók Composer 2 Pictures (Két kép), Op.10, BB59, Sz.46 Work Recorded 1992 18:35 Chicago Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Pierre Boulez Conductor
7	1.Viragzas (In Full Flower)	8:49			$1.49
8	2.A falu tanca (Village Dance)	9:46			$1.49
Béla Bartók Composer Hungarian Sketches (Magyar képek), BB103, Sz.97 Work Recorded 1993 10:57 Chicago Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Pierre Boulez Conductor
9	1.Este a székelyeknél (Evening in the Village)	2:55			$0.99
10	2.Medvetánc (Bear Dance)	1:29			$0.49
11	3.Melódia (Melody)	2:21			$0.99
12	4.Kicsit ázottan (Slightly Tipsy)	2:10			$0.99
13	5.Ürögi kanásztánc (Ürög Swineherd's Dance)	2:02			$0.99
Béla Bartók Composer Divertimento for String Orchestra, BB118 Work Recorded 1993 26:19 Chicago Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Pierre Boulez Conductor
14	1.Allegro non troppo	9:09			$1.49
15	2.Molto adagio	9:35			$1.49
16	3.Allegro assai	7:35			$1.49