Album

Four of the greatest of the great Hungarian conductors from the postwar period could be fairly described as Bartók specialists: Ferenc Fricsay, Fritz Reiner, Georg Solti, and Antal Dorati. Fricsay was lucid and driven, Reiner was hard and strong, Solti was muscular and dramatic, but Antal Dorati was brilliant and rhythmic. While Fricsay, Reiner, and Solti were all compelling Bartók conductors, Dorati was the most immediately attractive and ultimately irresistible. Dorati, with his training as a conductor for the Ballet Russ, made not only Bartók's ballets dance, he made the Concerto for orchestra and the Music for string, percussion and celesta dance. Even the supremely lyrical Violin Concerto, with a passionate Yehudi Menuhin, is light on its feet and the opera Bluebeard's Castle, despite its dramatic power, moves with grace. The London Symphony, the BBC Symphony, the Minneapolis Symphony, and of course the Philharmonia Hungarica play as if they were to the czardas born. Mercury's sound was stupendous in its day and it sounds even better now: absolutely clear and undeniably real.

© James Leonard, All Music Guide

CD 1 of 5
Béla Bartók Composer Concerto for Orchestra, BB123, Sz.116 Work Recorded 1962 37:12 London Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Antal Dorati Conductor
1	1.Introduzione: Andante non troppo. Allegro vivace	9:36			$1.49
2	2.Giuoco delle copie: Allegretto scherzando	6:17			$0.99
3	3.Elegia: Andante non troppo	7:14			$1.49
4	4.Intermezzo interrotto: Allegretto	4:26			$0.99
5	5.Finale: Pesante. Presto	9:39			$1.49
Béla Bartók Composer Dance Suite (Táncszvit), BB86a, Sz.77 Work Recorded 1958 16:46 Philharmonia Hungarica Orchestra, Antal Dorati Conductor
6	1.Moderato	3:32			$0.99
7	2.Allegro molto	2:17			$0.99
8	3.Allegro vivace	2:48			$0.99
9	4.Molto tranquillo	3:09			$0.99
10	5.Comodo	5:00			$0.99
Béla Bartók Composer Two Portraits, for violin and orchestra, Op.5, BB48b, Sz.37 Work Recorded 1958 13:09 Erwin Ramor Violin, Philharmonia Hungarica Orchestra, Antal Dorati Conductor
11	1.One Ideal (Egy idealis)	10:16			$1.99
12	2.One Grotesque (Egy torz)	2:53			$0.99
Béla Bartók Composer Mikrokosmos: 153 Progressive Piano Pieces in 6 volumes, BB105, Sz.107...Volume 4 Work Recorded 1958 Philharmonia Hungarica Orchestra, Antal Dorati Conductor
13	117.Bourrée	1:56			$0.49
Béla Bartók Composer Mikrokosmos: 153 Progressive Piano Pieces in 6 volumes, BB105, Sz.107...Volume 6 Work Recorded 1958 Philharmonia Hungarica Orchestra, Antal Dorati Conductor
14	142.From the diary of a fly	2:21			$0.99
CD 2 of 5
Béla Bartók Composer The Miraculous Mandarin, Op.19, BB82 (pantomime) Work Recorded 1964 28:39 BBC Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus Chorus/Choir, Antal Dorati Conductor
1	1a.Beginning	1:33			$0.49
2	1b.The curtain rises on a shabby room in the slums, where three penniless tramps force a girl to lure	1:50			$0.49
3	2a.First Seduction Game	1:11			$0.49
4	2b.The shabby old rake enters and makes comic gestures of love to the girl until the tramps throw him	2:02			$0.99
5	3a.Second Seduction Game	1:12			$0.49
6	3b.The shy goung man appears in the door, and the girl dances	1:32			$0.49
7	4a.Third Seduction Game	1:02			$0.49
8	4b.Horrified, they see a weird figure in the street, and the tramps hide as they hear him coming up th	0:29			$0.49
9	5a.The Mandarin enters and remains immobile in the doorway...	0:42			$0.49
10	5b.General consternation. The girl overcomes her repugnance and slowly entices the Mandarin5b.General consternation. The girl overcomes her repugnance and slowly entices the Mandarin	1:33			$0.49
11	5c.At last she overcomes her reluctance and begins a hesitant dance, which gradually enlivens to a pit	3:41			$0.99
12	6a.The girl sinks down to embrace him...	0:26			$0.49
13	6b.She flees from him, and he chases her more and more wildly.	1:41			$0.49
14	6c.The Mandarin catches the girl, and they fight	0:13			$0.49
15	7a.The tramps leap out, tear the Mandarin away from the girl, and seize his jewelery and money	0:15			$0.49
16	7b.We must kill him, stifle him under the pillows on the bed, the tramps decide	1:26			$0.49
17	8a.Suddenly the Mandarin's head appears between the pillows and he looks longingly at the girl	1:02			$0.49
18	8b.At last the three tramps master their horror. They drag the Mandarin out and grip him firmly while	1:18			$0.49
19	9a.The terrified tramps discuss how they are to get rid of the Mandarin at last	0:42			$0.49
20	9b.They drag the resisting Mandarin to the center of the room and hang him on the lamp hook.	1:02			$0.49
21	10.The body of the Mandarin begins to glow with a greenish blue light	1:43			$0.49
22	10b.At her insistence, the tramps take him down. The Mandarin falls on the floor and at once leaps at	1:05			$0.49
23	11.Più mosso. Vivo: She resists no longer, they embrace	0:59			$0.49
Béla Bartók Composer Divertimento for String Orchestra, BB118 Work Recorded 1964 24:34 BBC Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Antal Dorati Conductor
24	1.Allegro non troppo	8:51			$1.49
25	2.Molto adagio	8:25			$1.49
26	3.Allegro assai	7:18			$1.49
Béla Bartók Composer Sonata for 2 Pianos and 2 Percussion, BB115, Sz.110 Work Recorded 1960 24:13 Luctor Ponse Piano, Geza Frid Piano, London Symphony Orchestra [members of] Orchestra, Antal Dorati Conductor
27	1.Assai lento. Allegro molto	12:17			$1.99
28	2.Lento ma non troppo	5:30			$0.99
29	3.Allegro non troppo	6:26			$0.99
CD 3 of 5
Béla Bartók Composer The Wooden Prince, Op.13, BB74 Work Recorded 1964 47:14 London Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Antal Dorati Conductor
1	1.Introduction	4:42			$0.99
2	2.First Dance: The Princess in the Forest	4:16			$0.99
3	3.Second Dance: The Trees	4:44			$0.99
4	4.Third Dance: The Waves	10:32			$1.99
5	5.Fourth Dance: The Princess with the Wooden Prince	12:51			$1.99
6	6.Fifth Dance: The Princess Prods and Encourages the Wooden Prince to Dance	1:33			$0.49
7	7.The Sixth Dance: She tries to attract the real Prince with her seductive dancing	1:41			$0.49
8	8.The Seventh Dance: Dismayed, the Princess attempts to hurry after the Prince, but the forest bars her w	6:55			$0.99
Béla Bartók Composer Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, BB114, Sz.106 Work Recorded 1960 30:34 London Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Antal Dorati Conductor
9	1.Andante tranquillo	8:08			$1.49
10	2.Allegro	7:16			$1.49
11	3.Adagio	7:14			$1.49
12	4.Allegro molto	7:56			$1.49
CD 4 of 5
Béla Bartók Composer Violin Concerto No.2 in B-, BB117, Sz.112 Work Recorded 1957 35:46 Yehudi Menuhin Violin, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Antal Dorati Conductor
1	1.Allegro con troppo	15:30			$2.49
2	2.Andante tranquillo	9:08			$1.49
3	3.Allegro molto	11:08			$1.99
Béla Bartók Composer Suite for Orchestra No.2, Op.4, BB40, Sz.34 Work Recorded 1955 31:54 Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Antal Dorati Conductor
4	1.Comodo	7:58			$1.49
5	2.Allegro scherzando	8:25			$1.49
6	3.Andante	7:47			$1.49
7	4.Comodo	7:44			$1.49
CD 5 of 5
Béla Bartók Composer Duke Bluebeard's Castle, Op.11, BB62 (opera) Work Recorded 1962 52:30 Olga Szonyi Soprano, London Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Mihály Skékely Bass, Antal Dorati Conductor
1	2.Megérkeztünk (Here our journey ends); 3.Ez a Kélszakállú vára! (Is this truly Bluebeard's castle!); 4.Nagy csukort ajtókat látok (Seven huge doors I see)	14:33			$2.49
2	5.Door 1 (Torture chamber): Jaj'! Mit látsz? (Woe! What do you see?)	3:42			$0.99
3	6.Door 2 (Armory): Mit látsz? (What do you see?)	3:37			$0.99
4	7.Door 3 (Treasury): Oh, be sok kincs! (Oh, riches beyond compare)	1:57			$0.49
5	8.Door 4 (Garden): Oh! Virágok (Oh! Marvelous flowers)	4:19			$0.99
6	9.Door 5 (Kingdom): Ah! Lásd es az én birodalman (Ah! Now behold my vast domain)	5:42			$0.99
7	10.Door 6 (Pool of tears): Csendes fehér tavat látok (I see still white waters); 11.Az utolsót nem nyitom ki (The last door must stay shut); 12.Mondd meg nekem Kékszakállú (Tell me, dearest Bluebeard); 13.Tudom, tudom, Kékszakállú (I have guessed, Bluebeard)	11:08			$1.99
8	14.Door 7 (Wives): Lásd a régi asszonyokat (Now behold the other women); 15.Hajnalban as elsöt leltem (I found the first at dawn)	7:32			$1.49
Alban Berg Composer 3 Bruchstücke from 'Wozzeck', for soprano and orchestra Work Recorded 1961 20:27 Helga Pilarczyk Soprano, London Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Antal Dorati Conductor
9	1.Tchin bum! Soldaten	7:42			$1.49
10	2.Und ist kein Betrug	5:23			$0.99
11	3.Ringel, Ringel	7:22			$1.49