Béla Bartók: Top 20 Recordings
Thursday, March 21, 2024
From the Concerto For Orchestra to Bluebeard's Castle, here are Béla Bartók's greatest works in outstanding recordings from Pierre Boulez, Susanna Mälkki, Gidon Kremer, Martha Argerich and more
Béla Bartók was one of the 20th century’s most important and individual composers, cherished for his intellectual rigour, uncompromising individuality and personal sound world. By its very nature, no Top 20 list could hope to include all of the wonderful recordings of Bartók's music that we have available to us today, but all of those listed below say something special about Bartók's music, and each should be seen as a leaping-off point for fresh discoveries.
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Piano Concertos
Géza Anda pf Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra / Ferenc Fricsay (DG)
‘Much as one would like to tout the new as the best, there are some older recordings where a very special chemistry spells 'definitive', and that pose an almost impossible challenge to subsequent rivals. Such is this 1959 recording of Bartók's Second Piano Concerto, a tough, playful, pianistically aristocratic performance where dialogue is consistently keen and spontaneity is captured on the wing (even throughout numerous sessions).’ (Rob Cowan, May 1995)
Piano Concertos
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet pf BBC Philharmonic Orchestra / Gianandrea Noseda (Chandos)
‘If you’re after a disc of Bartók’s piano concertos that maximises on the music’s drive, elegance and sparring potential, then you could hardly do better than this ear-catching new production by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and the BBC Philharmonic under the spirited direction of Gianandrea Noseda. Rarely have I encountered a reading of the First Concerto where, in the first movement especially, the sense of instrumental interplay is so consistently vital.’ (Rob Cowan, Awards issue 2010)
Violin Concertos. Viola Concerto
James Ehnes vn/va BBC Philharmonic Orchestra / Gianandrea Noseda (Chandos)
‘James Ehnes offers us the most ‘Heifetzian’ recording yet, a vibrant, tender-hearted, boisterously youthful account, bittersweet where needs be and eagerly supported by the BBC Philharmonic under Gianandrea Noseda, who are consistently on the ball. The alternation of serenity (first movement, later the First Portrait) and dizzying, up-tempo mood-swings (second movement) has rarely been more securely focused.’ (Rob Cowan, November 2011)
Violin Concertos Nos 1 & 2
Christian Tetzlaff vn Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra / Hannu Lintu (Ondine)
‘Tetzlaff’s account of the First Concerto elevates this work to a whole new level of musical excellence, so much so that I’m inclined to place his expertly recorded CD of the two concertos ahead of all rival versions. It’s that good!’ (Rob Cowan, May 2018)
Violin Concertos Nos 1 & 2
Frank Peter Zimmermann vn Berliner Philharmoniker / Alan Gilbert (Berliner Philharmoniker)
‘In the case of the First Concerto I have no reservations at all: the first movement is tonally silken and shaped by Gilbert with the hypnotic skill of a Celibidache. I’ve never heard better, whereas the Second darts and dances on the wings of youthful love, much as it should, given the work’s amorous groundsprings.’ (Rob Cowan, November 2021)
Concerto for Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Fritz Reiner (RCA)
‘A classic recording by one of the master Bartók conductors. With staggering playing by the Chicago Symphony and recording that simply doesn't sound its age, this is a magnificent achievement. RCA's sound reportage of the Concerto for Orchestra has uncanny realism, and if the climaxes are occasionally reined in, the fervour of Reiner's direction more than compensates.’
Concerto for Orchestra
Budapest Festival Orchestra / Iván Fischer (Philips)
‘Fischer and his Budapest players leave you breathless in an intense and utterly compelling performance of the Concerto.’ (Gramophone Collection – Top Choice, David Threasher, April 2010)
Concerto for Orchestra. Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra / Susanna Mälkki (BIS Records)
‘It’s all very impressive both in terms of virtuosity and characterisation, and the metamorphosis of the finale’s jaunty trumpet tune into something resoundingly triumphant and, yes, nationalistic is brought home with a breadth and fervour which is right up there with some of the best accounts on record.’ (Edward Seckerson, December 2021)
The Miraculous Mandarin
Budapest Festival Orchestra / Iván Fischer (Philips)
‘As Mandarins go, they don’t come more miraculous than this – a vivid, no-holds-barred performance that henceforth tops my list of current recommendations. Everything tells – the flavour is right, the pacing too and the sound has a toughened, raw-edged quality that is an essential constituent of Bartók’s tonal language.’ (Rob Cowan, August 1997)
Piano Quintet
Vilde Frang vn Barnabás Kelemen vn Katalin Kokas va Nicolas Altstaedt vc Alexander Lonquich pf (Alpha)
‘I think it fair to say that Kelemen, Frang, Katalin Kokas, Altstaedt and Alexander Lonquich sell this lovable product of youthful creative excess more securely than any of their predecessors on disc, certainly any that I have encountered.’ (Rob Cowan, October 2019)
String Quartets Nos 1-6
Heath Quartet (Harmonia Mundi)
‘Newcomers to the Bartók quartets will find this a sincere, imaginative and splendidly played entry point; old hands will quickly find 101 new reasons why these extraordinary works rank among the supreme achievements of 20th-century music.’ (Richard Bratby, September 2017)
String Quartets Nos 1-6
Emerson String Quartet (DG)
‘The impression one gains from these recordings (I have not seen the Quartet in the concert hall) is of massive tonal projection and superlative clarity, each textural strand coloured and made audible to a degree possibly unrivalled in the recorded history of these works.’ (David Fanning, December 1988)
Violin Sonatas Nos 1 & 2. Sonata for Solo Violin
Christian Tetzlaff vn Leif Ove Andsnes pf (Erato)
‘This is chamber music playing of the highest order, candid and straightforward enough for a basic library recommendation but also rich enough in subtleties to satisfy even the most discerning connoisseur.’ (Rob Cowan, September 2004)
Sonata for Solo Violin. Violin Sonata No 1
Gidon Kremer vn Martha Argerich pf
‘One of the finest ever recorded performances of Bartok's Solo Sonata, Kremer calling on his full repertoire of violinistic devices which include, in addition to the many called for in the score, a mastery of tonal colouring and a rhythmic grip that at times seem to transcend the limitations of the instrument. Kremer doesn't so much play as speak to you through the music and while his tone hasn't the alluring sweetness of, say, a (young) Menuhin, the sheer electricity of his interpretation more than compensates. Not once does the tension even begin to ease. What an artist!’ (Rob Cowan, June 2009)
Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion
Martha Argerich pf Stephen Kovacevich pf Willy Goudswaard perc Michael De Roo perc (Philips)
‘A remarkable and outstanding performance of both the Bartók and Debussy works. These readings are as strongly characterized as any I have ever heard either on records or in the concert hall. The Bartók Sonata has superb dramatic projection. The performance grips you right from the very beginning, which is rapt, intent, brooding and with an astonishingly well projected sense of atmosphere. I suspected that the dynamic extremes at one point were slightly aided by the engineers but there is no questioning the range of keyboard colour that these artists command.’ (Robert Layton, August 1978)
Piano Sonata. Out of Doors. Nine Little Piano Pieces. Petite Suite
Zoltán Kocsis pf (Philips)
‘Kocsis’s mastery of tone, rhythm and articulation, allied to his painstaking attention to important source material (namely Bartók’s scores and records), make for a level of pianistic distinction that is fairly unique in this repertory. To say that, with Kocsis, ‘less is more’ is to suggest executive reticence, which is certainly not the case... This is unquestionably one of the great piano records of the post-war period.’ (Rob Cowan, July 1997)
14 Bagatelles
Piotr Anderszewski pf (Warner Classics)
‘Each miniature in this kaleidoscopic collection has a different personality. The range is vast; but giddy or sober, direct or disorientating, high-minded or venomous (for example, Bartók’s last Bagatelle, later orchestrated as a poison-pen portrait of violinist Stefi Geyer after she had rejected him), each piece emerges, often startlingly, with its own flavour intact.’ (Peter J Rabinowitz, February 2024)
Village Scenes
Magdalena Kožená mez Yefim Bronfman pf (Pentatone)
‘As you might guess, the Czech mezzo is in prime form in songs that could have been written for her. She catches every mood and inflection with spontaneous immediacy, from the simple tenderness of ‘The Bride’ to the mordant humour and growing delirium of ‘Wedding’, abetted by Yefim Bronfman’s brilliant, boldly coloured pianism.’ (Richard Wigmore, November 2021)
Bluebeard's Castle
Siegmund Nimsgern, Tatiana Troyanos; BBC Symphony Orchestra / Pierre Boulez (Sony)
‘Boulez's pacing is ideally judged — in fact, throughout this memorable performance, he balances the constituent parts of Bartok's rich tonal palette with a meticulous ear, patiently scaling the score's many texturally complex climaxes.’ (Rob Cowan, March 1995)
Bluebeard's Castle
Mika Kares, Szilvia Vörös; Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra / Susanna Mälkki (BIS Records)
‘Susanna Mälkki is the conductor here, and she seems to know instinctively when to unobtrusively tighten the emotional screw and when to step back and simply let us take in Bartók’s flabbergasting orchestral canvas.’ (Edward Seckerson, June 2021)
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