gmahler2u
Headphoneus Supremus
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Boulez complete DG recordings of Bartok box set. (early 90's to 2008)
All of the major orchestral works here plus a few rarities. As with any box set there will be better performances out there of certain works but as a whole I can wholeheartedly recommend this if you suddenly get into Bartok and want all of the orchestral bits in one place.
Boulez, surprisingly is not Bartok's biggest fan, or so I've read. Surprising because he has constantly conducted his works throughout his conducting life. And he conducts them very well imo. Boulez like no other conductor understands 20th century composers. Or he takes the time to understand them. I'm not a fan of a lot of Boulez conducting of romantic composers and I feel he gets frustrated. He likes to dissect; to make every nuance heard and his Mahler for e.g suffers for this... He can easily remove drama and fundamental meaning by cutting open scores and giving smaller details more space and prominence. Mahlers little ironic twists and turns really don't need highlighting because they can very easily lose their poignancy. But not many can get Mahler right imo. Bartok's music on the other hand invites conductors to do this. His is full of surprises when looking deeper. But more importantly its is the timing and phrasing that is so important with Bartok because things can so easily get messy.
Anyhoowza...
These are solid and very thoughtful performances as a whole from the master of the 20th century repertoire. The recording quality is constantly top notch.
Theres not many blokes I would trust with a comb-over, but Boulez is an exception.
Boulez's Bartok is the milestone! I have the set individually and I'm with Lugbug. Boulez is the supreme of the modern music and highly recommend this set to anyone who like to explore Bartok.