BaL 21.11.15 - Bartok: Piano Concerto no. 2

[ardcarp]

Forgive my ignorance, but was the use of a theme reminiscent of The Firebird a conscious or indeed widely acknowledged act on Bartok's part?
I don't know the work well, but I must say I found Geza Anda's examples played on the programme very appealing...and given his historic connection with it, I'd be tempted by one of his versions, were my projected Xmas stocking capacity not already exceeded.

[Black Swan]

I downloaded the album and have just finished listening to Concerto 2. It is a very fine recording in deed.

[umslopogaas]

I have one version on LP that is not on the list, so presumably never made it to CD: Alexis Weissenberg and the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy. My favourite is probably Stephen Bishop (as he was then) and the BBCSO conducted by Colin Davis.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

My favourite is probably Stephen Bishop (as he was then) and the BBCSO conducted by Colin Davis.

Rightly praised as a performance this morning, umsloppo - and rightly (and reluctantly) falling at the last fence because of the balance between soloist and orchestra (the favouring of the piano such that orchestral detail was lost).

[clive heath]

You can hear Anda/Fricsay 2 and 3 here

http://www.cliveheathmusic.co.uk/vinyl.php

from the LPs.

[ahinton]

FWIW, I really believe that Bartók's Second Piano Concerto is way better than all his other six put together - or at least would be had he written that many; for all their other attractions, I cannot help but find the first too reliant upon empty and less than inspiring banging and the last just too tame, whereas the truly powerful second, for all that I'm sure it's the most challenging for the soloist, doesn't have a single unengaging bar.

[Barbirollians]

I am - no gratuitous sneering at any recording; neither that dry delivery nor the irritating "chirpiness" that so often gets between me and the recordings under discussion; opinions made clearly distinct from "facts"; the same recordings chosen for especial praise that I would have chosen (and, uncannily, for the same reasons I would have chosen them) - but, best of all for me, she chose a recording I didn't know and it sounded fantastic in the excerpts we heard. Maybe she caught me in a particularly good mood, but I found this one of the very best BaLs ever.

It was certainly Harriet Smith's best BAL . I am puzzled by this obsession on BAL with modern recording . The 1959 Anda / Fricsay is in perfectly acceptable stereo and it was notable that at least one point she compared how it outshone the winner . I can understand not having a pre stereo recording as a winner but for the performance she appeared still to consider the best to lose out for that reason strikes me as wrong .

The winner did sound very fine but if tempted to add another to Anda ( that for me completely superseded the Donohoe/Rattle I first owned it would probably be Pollini and SBK that would tempt me most .

[Pulcinella]

Caught up on LA: much enjoyed this BaL.
No reason for me to add to the classic Anda/Fricsay (originally owned as part of a 2LP gatefold set) and SBK/Davis CDs that I already have, though.
And she was right about the other version I have (Entremont/Bernstein: bought to get the Gold and Fizdale version of the Concerto for two pianos): in places it does sound very approximate!

[Tony Halstead]

Maurizio Pollini, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado

Quite a surprise to me that this one didn't get 'top recommendation'. I have enjoyed this performance for many years.
However, there is a 'background' to this recording:
In / or around/ January - February 1973 Pollini / Abbado and the LSO performed it in London as a prelude or 'dry run' for a scheduled recording of it at the EMI Abbey Road studios.
As a follow-up to the concert ( during which, I seem to remember, Pollini was superb) we all turned up for the studio sessions only to find that Mr Pollini was pacing around the studio, rubbing his hands and arms, looking very tense and distressed. Several 'takes' were recorded but it became very clear that there was a 'faulty chemistry' in the air... there also seemed to be a lot of harsh words spoken ( obviously in Italian) between Mr Abbado and Mr Pollini.
Oh dear...!
The next thing was the news that Mr Pollini had departed from the studio... and suddenly the orchestral parts of Stravinsky's 'Firebird' Suite were put on our music stands. We recorded that in a couple of 'takes' and went home wondering what exactly had 'gone wrong' re the Bartok Concerto?

[ahinton]

Quite a surprise to me that this one didn't get 'top recommendation'. I have enjoyed this performance for many years.
However, there is a 'background' to this recording:
In / or around/ January - February 1973 Pollini / Abbado and the LSO performed it in London as a prelude or 'dry run' for a scheduled recording of it at the EMI Abbey Road studios.
As a follow-up to the concert ( during which, I seem to remember, Pollini was superb) we all turned up for the studio sessions only to find that Mr Pollini was pacing around the studio, rubbing his hands and arms, looking very tense and distressed. Several 'takes' were recorded but it became very clear that there was a 'faulty chemistry' in the air... there also seemed to be a lot of harsh words spoken ( obviously in Italian) between Mr Abbado and Mr Pollini.
Oh dear...!
The next thing was the news that Mr Pollini had departed from the studio... and suddenly the orchestral parts of Stravinsky's 'Firebird' Suite were put on our music stands. We recorded that in a couple of 'takes' and went home wondering what exactly had 'gone wrong' re the Bartok Concerto?

That's fascinating - albeit also disturbing - to hear; two fabulous Italian artists who seemed to have so very much in common - but then Pollini has long been given to such bouts of tension which the listener would never guess from the sheer refinement and polish of so much of what he has done...

[HighlandDougie]

Quite a surprise to me that this one didn't get 'top recommendation'. I have enjoyed this performance for many years.
However, there is a 'background' to this recording:
In / or around/ January - February 1973 Pollini / Abbado and the LSO performed it in London as a prelude or 'dry run' for a scheduled recording of it at the EMI Abbey Road studios.
As a follow-up to the concert ( during which, I seem to remember, Pollini was superb) we all turned up for the studio sessions only to find that Mr Pollini was pacing around the studio, rubbing his hands and arms, looking very tense and distressed. Several 'takes' were recorded but it became very clear that there was a 'faulty chemistry' in the air... there also seemed to be a lot of harsh words spoken ( obviously in Italian) between Mr Abbado and Mr Pollini.
Oh dear...!
The next thing was the news that Mr Pollini had departed from the studio... and suddenly the orchestral parts of Stravinsky's 'Firebird' Suite were put on our music stands. We recorded that in a couple of 'takes' and went home wondering what exactly had 'gone wrong' re the Bartok Concerto?

12 November 1972 in the RFH. The concerto is shown on the LSO/Abbado concert list as Bartok's 1st. Schubert's 'Unfinished', Debussy's Nocturnes and the Firebird Suite made up the rest of the programme. Whew! The Bartok's 2nd with the Abbado/Pollini combination featured in the LSO's May 1978 concert schedule (with Mahler 4). That would be around the time of the Chicago recording so whatever differences Tony observed in 1972 had presumably been smoothed over by then.

[BBMmk2]

So Yuja Wang(spelling?) play this at the proms! fantastic performance!

[soileduk]

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/DG/4473992

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Alto/ALC1246

Are either or,even,both of these albums the favoured Anda recording?

[HighlandDougie]

They will be one and the same set of recordings. I can't remember what the laws are now about copyright but I guess that, being over 50 years old, they might now be out of copyright, hence the Alto issue. Or Alto may have acquired the rights from Universal/DG to release their own version. Judging from the back cover of their CD issue (to be seen on French Amazon), I would rather doubt that that is the case, as it simply says "Originally recorded by/issued on Deutsche Grammophon, 1961/62". Anyway, and I may well be casting unfair aspersions about the possible sound quality of the Alto issue, caveat emptor.

[Bryn]

I have been able to find but 'two' reviews of this disc, both identical. One is on amazon.co.uk and signed JohnW, the other on MusicWeb and signed John Whitmore. Neither deals with the provenance of the transfer. I too would warn caveat emptor. A "Used - Very Good" copy of the DG Originals CD is cheaper anyway.