Album

Early in 2006, Hänssler released a splendid CD featuring Béla Bartók's Four Pieces for Orchestra, the Violin Concerto No. 1, and the Music for strings, percussion, and celesta, all conducted with great vitality and acuity by Michael Gielen and played with exceptional brilliance by the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg. Later in the year, the label produced a follow-up album, this time featuring Bartók's suite from the ballet The Wooden Prince, Sz. 60 (1917), and the Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116 (1943), and the success of the first album was resoundingly matched. The shimmering rendition of The Wooden Prince makes a marvelous opening for the program, for its magical atmosphere and glistening impressionistic touches prepare the listener for the evocative music of the concerto, and the two works are comparable in their textural clarity, tonal accessibility, and tunefulness. Gielen is a master at bringing out an orchestra's purest timbres, and his work here is some of the most colorful he has ever produced. The concerto especially benefits from Gielen's vivid highlights, since it sometimes can seem thick and heavy under a less exacting conductor. Additionally, Gielen's interpretation of the concerto is emphatically virtuosic, rather than symphonic in character, so the heightened colors are at the service of Bartók's technical wizardry and make the piece sound as dazzling and vibrant as it was intended to be. Furthermore, Hänssler's reproduction is astonishingly clear and crisp, so scarcely a note is lost, and the recording is imbued with a credible ensemble presence and glorious resonance.

© Blair Sanderson, All Music Guide

CD 1
Béla Bartók Composer The Wooden Prince, Op.13, BB74, Sz.60 (suite from ballet) Work Recorded 2006 24:11 SWR Baden-Baden and Freiburg Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Michael Gielen Conductor
1	Introduction: Molto moderato	4:40			$0.99
2	First Dance: Dance of the Princess in the Forest (Molto moderato)	2:37			$0.99
3	Second Dance: Dance of the Trees (Assai moderato)	4:17			$0.99
4	Third Dance: Dance of the Waves (Andante)	2:02			$0.99
5	Fourth Dance: Dance of the Princess with the Wooden Doll (Allegro)	3:22			$0.99
6	Fourth Dance: Dance of the Princess with the Wooden Doll (Allegro)	4:51			$0.99
7	Seventh Dance: Dismayed, the Princess attempts to hurry after the Prince	2:22			$0.99
Béla Bartók Composer Concerto for Orchestra, BB123, Sz.116 Work Recorded 2005 39:36 SWR Baden-Baden and Freiburg Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Michael Gielen Conductor
8	1.Introduzione: Andante non troppo. Allegro vivace	10:17			$1.99
9	2.Giuoco delle copie: Allegretto scherzando	7:16			$1.49
10	3.Elegia: Andante non troppo	8:00			$1.49
11	4.Intermezzo interrotto: Allegretto	4:15			$0.99
12	5.Finale: Pesante. Presto	9:48			$1.49