I had bought several volumes of Supraphon's 'Karel Ancerl Gold' series, 24 bit remasterings of recordings that Ancerl andthe Czech PO made
extending from the mid 1950s to edge of the Prague Spring, after which Ancerl defected to Canada. At random I pulled Bartok's Concerto For Orchestra off the shelf. This recording is so different from every other version of the work that I have heard that I thought deserved a mention.
First, the remastering is wonderful. There is great clarity of all the instruments and a deep soundstage. Not all the CDs in this series sound this good, but it is one of the standouts. And the Czech PO of this era hada great sound, with fruity winds, powerful yet characterful brass, and a thinner sounding strings than Vienna or Berlin (or Chicago--more later), but the string playing has great character.
The remarkable (at least for me) thing about this interpretation is that Ancerl emphasizes the dark, foreboding elements and doesn't treat it as romp for Orchestra. For example the fugal horn passage in I doesn't sound jazzy or like a Gabrielli Canzonetta, but is taken slowly and ominously, evoking the beginning of Mahler 6.Even in the whirlwind last movement, it is the darker counter themes that take precedence over the more brilliant intro and coda. The high spirited parts get their due, but it always seems as if an undercurrent of foreboding lurks not far off.
For comparison, I have been listening to the other 3 versions that I own, all of which have great similarity to each other and which stand in high contrast to the Ancerl. Those versions are Reiner and Solti, both with the CSO, and Dorati with the LSO. While there are differences between them--Dorati is the most balletic, Reiner and Solti both floor the gas at the most virtuoistic passages, with Solti being predictably more brass heavy and Reiner showing greater Orchestral discipline--fundamentally all 3 sound as if cut from the same cloth.
One can't help noting that all 3 of those Conductors are Hungarians that had some contact with the Composer (Reiner was instrumental in obtaining the commission). Ancerl, on the other hand, was a Czech who as a teenager was sent to Theresenstadt and Auschwitz. Does this historical fact mean that he developed a darker view of life that permeated his music making? Ancerl's New World, another disc in this series, is the darkest that I've ever heard, but his Dvorak 6 is very sunny and bucolic, and one can't complain about his Prokofiev not being extroverted.
Anyway, for me a new take on the Bartok, and after thinking for the last 40 years that there is only 1 way to do this piece, I think I am going to be relistening to this disc quite a bit.
extending from the mid 1950s to edge of the Prague Spring, after which Ancerl defected to Canada. At random I pulled Bartok's Concerto For Orchestra off the shelf. This recording is so different from every other version of the work that I have heard that I thought deserved a mention.
First, the remastering is wonderful. There is great clarity of all the instruments and a deep soundstage. Not all the CDs in this series sound this good, but it is one of the standouts. And the Czech PO of this era hada great sound, with fruity winds, powerful yet characterful brass, and a thinner sounding strings than Vienna or Berlin (or Chicago--more later), but the string playing has great character.
The remarkable (at least for me) thing about this interpretation is that Ancerl emphasizes the dark, foreboding elements and doesn't treat it as romp for Orchestra. For example the fugal horn passage in I doesn't sound jazzy or like a Gabrielli Canzonetta, but is taken slowly and ominously, evoking the beginning of Mahler 6.Even in the whirlwind last movement, it is the darker counter themes that take precedence over the more brilliant intro and coda. The high spirited parts get their due, but it always seems as if an undercurrent of foreboding lurks not far off.
For comparison, I have been listening to the other 3 versions that I own, all of which have great similarity to each other and which stand in high contrast to the Ancerl. Those versions are Reiner and Solti, both with the CSO, and Dorati with the LSO. While there are differences between them--Dorati is the most balletic, Reiner and Solti both floor the gas at the most virtuoistic passages, with Solti being predictably more brass heavy and Reiner showing greater Orchestral discipline--fundamentally all 3 sound as if cut from the same cloth.
One can't help noting that all 3 of those Conductors are Hungarians that had some contact with the Composer (Reiner was instrumental in obtaining the commission). Ancerl, on the other hand, was a Czech who as a teenager was sent to Theresenstadt and Auschwitz. Does this historical fact mean that he developed a darker view of life that permeated his music making? Ancerl's New World, another disc in this series, is the darkest that I've ever heard, but his Dvorak 6 is very sunny and bucolic, and one can't complain about his Prokofiev not being extroverted.
Anyway, for me a new take on the Bartok, and after thinking for the last 40 years that there is only 1 way to do this piece, I think I am going to be relistening to this disc quite a bit.
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