I really can't remember now which of Bartók's pieces I heard first, at least knowingly, but my first experiences were almost certainly live. I may have heard one or more of the string quartets in Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall. I do remember a performance of the Miraculous Mandarin (suite?) and the Concerto for Orchestra - probably both with the RLPO and Pritchard conducting. The Mandarin made a big impression. Later I had Ormandy's recording of the Concerto for Orchestra, which I much enjoy(ed). However, I did take to reading scores around that time, and I'm convinced that many performances, even by well known and esteemed conductors, get some of the details and also the tempi quite wrong. I can't remember all of the details, but one area is the ending where some slow right down, and then (perhaps) speed up, and others just keep going, and some do accelerate. After all that I can't even remember what it "should" be like. I got to know the Second Violin Concerto at first from one of Menuhin's versions - which I much admired, on LP. I think that was the EMI one, with Dorati. I also acquired cheaply the Saga versions of the quartets, played by the Fine Arts Quartet, and I think we also had a Supraphon LP with quartets 1 and 2.
Comment