Notes and Editorial Reviews
[Karajan] recorded Bartók's Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta twice with the Berlin Philharmonic--first for EMI (possibly the worst performance ever of the piece), and then again for DG in 1973, at the absolute peak of his form. The string playing here is staggering: rich, dense, legato, and of such intensity that the sheer weight of tone becomes an almost physical pressure. You won't find the savagery of Reiner or Solti (in his first, LSO version) here, but Karajan's approach carries such conviction on its own terms that there's little to criticize. And he is, in any case, totally responsive to the demands of this intricate score: his third movement has the right sense of nocturnal mystery and terror, for example; and just
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listen to the superb acceleration he makes in the finale's second subject (one of the few conductors to really get this right). No doubt about it--this is great Bartók.
-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
reviewing this performance Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta reissued as DG 463640
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Works on This Recording
1.
Concerto for Orchestra, Sz 116 by Béla Bartók
Conductor:
Herbert von Karajan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1943; USA
Date of Recording: 1966
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