Bartok: The Miraculous Mandarin (complete ballet); Dance Suite; Hungarian Pictures. Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by MarinAlsop (Cond.) – Naxos 8.557433 (62 minutes).
Born in 1881, Bela Bartok is considered one of the 20th century’s greatest composers, and most certainly the greatest Hungarian composer of his age. Imaginative, uncompromising and highly inventive, Bartok is to Hungarians what Elgar is to the English, and his many works testify to his masterly fusion of the cosmopolitan and folkloristic elements in music.
Having finished the one-act opera Bluebeard’s Castle in 1911, Bartok’s composition of The Miraculous Mandarin progressed slowly until the summer of 1914, when he embarked on the ballet The Wonder Prince, which was premiered in Budapest in 1917 and proved to be one of the few great successes during his lifetime. Bartok’s score has all the menace and venom of this dark tale and the music is consistently melodramatic, with a strong dose of atonality describing all the morbidity of the action.
The Dance Suite and Hungarian Pictures date from 1923 and 1931 respectively and with their attractive dance rhythms and descriptive tone paintings they make a pleasant and engaging alternative to the barbaric rawness of the ballet.
Also, the Bournemouth Symphony gives spirited performances that encapsulate the spectrum of emotions, and the persuasive playing makes all three works shine in all their orchestral splendour.
Schubert: Mass No. 1 in F, D, 105; Mass No. 3 in B Flat, D, 324. Immortal Bach Ensemble and Leipzig Chamber Orchestra conducted by Morten Schuldt-Jensen – Naxos 8.572279 (58 minutes).
Franz Schubert was born in Vienna in 1797 and spent the greater part of his tragically short life in the city. In 1808, he was accepted to join the Imperial Chapel as a chorister and this experience instilled in the 13-year-old a love for church music, which he kept up till the very end of his life, that ended prematurely in 1828 when the composer was still 31.
Schubert was only 17 when he conducted his first Mass setting in 1814. Antonio Salieri, the court composer, heaped praise on the young composer and this served as an inspiration which propelled Schubert to write six great Masses. The first, written in 1814, is an amazingly accomplished piece for one so young. Although it harks back to classical precedents, it has several glimpses of Schubert’s unique lyrical gifts and makes effective use, particularly in the innovative Sanctus, of the soloists, choir and an orchestra rich in wind and brass.
The Mass in B Flat was composed the following year, and like the first, it is scaled for liturgical purposes. Combining beauty with splendour, the piece is one of Schubert’s most attractive early sacred works. Together with the sixth creation, it is one of the composer’s most performed pieces in the genre.
Schuldt-Jensen and his Leipzig forces perform with enthusiasm, and the singing has a constant opulence that makes Schubert’s music sparkle.
The CDs were made available for review by D’Amato Record Shop of 98/99, St John’s Street, Valletta.