Phils 11a: Sibelius, Bartόk, Mozart

Sibelius: The Lover
Recordings of the orchestral version of this work are hard to find. The only one I could access is on the BIS label with Neeme Järvi and the Gothenberg Symphony, and I cannot recommend it.


Bartόk: Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta
Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic
Sony Classical

If you’ve ever felt that this work is coldly intellectual, this recording is the perfect antidote. No intellectual abstraction here! Bernstein finds emotion in this music I’ve never heard on other recordings. His lines are romantically lush and deeply expressive, yet the inner details and textures are remarkably transparent. As with Mahler, you hear three or four different things happening at once, especially with the fabulous engineering that clearly delineates the two string orchestras left and right. Recorded in 1961, you’d swear it was digitally recorded this year. The first three movements are utterly vibrant and tremendously powerful; even though the final movement lacks unifying flow-through, it still makes its mark.  

WebTips: This recording is on two Sony CDs, the “Royal Edition” series (which I’ve heard) and the “Bernstein Century” series, both with Bartόk’s Concerto for Orchestra.
 

Mozart: Serenade No. 10, “Gran Partita”
Neville Marriner, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Philips

It takes until the second time through the exposition section of the first movement for the players to catch their groove, but once they do, they’re “hot” to the very finale, so much so that I’ll bet they made this 1984 recording in one day. They know not just how to create loud versus soft contrasts but how to create pungent versus mellow character—make that “atmosphere.” They give an expressive gait and lift even to the slow movements, which so easily can be rhythmically deadbeat. The Minuets are lightly toe-tapping, the Theme and Variations (a potentially deadly form) has buoyancy and lyricism, and the Adagio and Romance movements are especially lovely. The lead oboist and contrabassoonist are especially gorgeous. The superb rhythmic articulation, even at presto speed, is awesome, especially given the warm, clear, superbly balanced sound. What fun they must have had making this recording!