JoAnn Falletta’s performances of these early Bartók show-stoppers really do raise the roof. Making the First Suite sound compelling is no mean feat, and yet, right from the ebullient opening Allegro vivace, the Buffalo Philharmonic sound fully on course for the challenge: the first subject has an irresistible bounce to it, while the second, which leans lyrically on expressive woodwind-writing, is sensitively phrased. The solemn Poco adagio finds Bartók en route to Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, a fact evidently not lost on Falletta and her responsive players; and then there’s the swiftly waltzing third movement, swirling with heady abandon, much aided by a recording that captures the full range of Bartók’s already masterly orchestration. More premonitions fill the Moderato fourth movement, which in turn gives way to an energetic finale that keeps threatening to turn into Borodin’s Prince Igor Overture.

Kossuth, often cited as the fledgling Bartók’s Ein Heldenleben, has been well served on CD by the likes of Iván Fischer (Philips, 1/99) and Herbert Blomstedt (Decca, 7/95) but Falletta’s dramatic reading is every bit as effective as theirs, the desperate confrontation between Habsburg Austrians and Hungarians (ie at around 11'11") particularly exciting, the whole held together with a skill habitually employed by top-ranking conductors for Liszt’s better-known tone-poems. You soon forget Bartók’s tender age and start thinking of the work as a heartfelt piece of musical tragedy.

Likewise the Two Portraits, the first sweetly played by violinist Michael Ludwig, the second granted its full measure of implied scorn. Given the excellent playing and first-rate sound, I really can’t see why anyone wanting to add these fascinating pieces to their library should look elsewhere, especially given the modest price point.