This is quite an enjoyable Bartók album, featuring an intriguing sample of his early and late-period works. The masterpiece of course is Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, which receives a vital and rhythmically alert performance under Zoltán Peskó and the SWR Symphony. Peskó builds considerable energy and tension in the first movement and maintains it throughout the performance, even if he doesn’t quite match the intensity of Bernstein or Reiner in their classic recordings.
Russell Sherman brings a certain physical grandeur to Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 3, giving the piece a sharper rhythmic profile than it normally receives. Michael Gielen is of like mind as he adroitly balances the score’s romantic and modern elements. Lastly, Hanns-Martin Schneidt leads an emotionally stimulating reading of the Two Portraits, again with excellent playing by the SWR Symphony. The live recordings feature solid, dynamically wide-ranging sound; only the lack of clarity in the low end reveals their radio production origin. Of course, there are better individual performances available, including the above-mentioned recordings as well as the Kocsis/Fischer Piano Concerto No. 3. But those wanting this particular compilation will be very pleased, especially as it’s offered at bargain price.
