# Bartok - What to Get / What to Avoid?



## Open Lane (Nov 11, 2015)

Hi. I'm interesting in getting some more of Bartok's music. I own the string quartets and a couple of other pieces but would like advice on where to go from here. I saw online, a collection of his solo piano works. I like piano music, are they particularly good?


Where do you think I should go from here?


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Get pretty much everything. Avoid pretty much nothing.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Regarding the music for piano - being it solo or concertos - *Kocsis* is the best overall, the most engaged and with good, modern sound.

I´d advise you to at least compare his recordings with others, before buying.

Some of the most immediately, well-known attractive Bartok orchestral works are:
- Dance Suite, for orchestra
- Music for Strings, Percussion & Celeste (try the 2nd movement for a sample)
- The Miraculous Mandarin, suite


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## shadowdancer (Mar 31, 2014)

I would advice this box. 
A nice start! 
You will find piano and violin concerti, along with standard orchestral repertoire.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

I have this set and can recommend it, there are all the major orchestral works and I have used this as my introduction to Bartok throughout this year


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

I agree with all of the above. I would also add his youthful work "Kossuth", a symphonic poem he had written in 1903 to commemorate Hungary's hero and statesman. It shows influences of Strauss, Liszt, a touch of Wagner, but it's very impressive. 
Recommended recordings: 

Herbert Blomstedt & the San Francisco SO (Decca)
Iván Fischer & the Budapest Festival Orchestra (Philips)


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Don't forget the Piano Concertos, the String Quartets (Alban Berg Quartet have been reissued numerous times, very inexpensive), and the Boulez Conducts box on Sony (very inexpensive).


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## Guest (Nov 20, 2015)

I can't really think of a bad Bartok work, though some of the simpler study works like _First Term At The Piano_ are not necessarily intended for listening perfection.

Get:
Complete Orchestral Works - Boulez
Complete Solo Piano Works - Kocsis
Complete String Quartets - Takacs Quartet
44 Duos - ECM Recording
Some recording of: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2, Solo Violin Sonata, Contrasts, Piano Quintet (I have these works on Naxos, YMMV)


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

Maybe avoid his very early Straussian period, for example Kossuth Sz.21.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Open Lane said:


> Hi. I'm interesting in getting some more of Bartok's music. I own the string quartets and a couple of other pieces but would like advice on where to go from here. I saw online, a collection of his solo piano works. I like piano music, are they particularly good?
> 
> Where do you think I should go from here?


What was the collection of piano pieces? Some of the piano music is good, some less good.

Which quartets did you like the most?

What are the couple of other pieces?

Do you like music with voice? Orchestral music?


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## Open Lane (Nov 11, 2015)

I recall enjoying all of the string quartets (been a while though). The other stuff i own is just titles "orchestral works." It is 3 cd set. I like orchestral music and avoid pieces with vocals

The piano set i was looking into is actually the kocsis


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Open Lane said:


> I recall enjoying all of the string quartets (been a while though). The other stuff i own is just titles "orchestral works." It is 3 cd set. I like orchestral music and avoid pieces with vocals
> 
> The piano set i was looking into is actually the kocsis


The Kocsis piano recording is a good thing to get -- as long as it's not the one with _just _mikrokosmos or the children's music. I asked about which quartets you liked because I wanted to know whether you preferred the first three to the last three. Maybe you should try some other chamber music -- the trio for two pianos and percussion for example. I guess you already have the music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. Who is playing the orchestral stuff and who is playing the quartets?


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Haydn man said:


> View attachment 77900
> 
> 
> I have this set and can recommend it, there are all the major orchestral works and I have used this as my introduction to Bartok throughout this year


This one!!!!!!

And also for the String Quartets I really love the Emerson and Hungarian String Quartets recordings.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Open Lane said:


> I recall enjoying all of the string quartets (been a while though). The other stuff i own is just titles "*orchestral works*." It is 3 cd set. I like orchestral music and avoid pieces with vocals
> 
> The *piano set *i was looking into is actually the kocsis


If it is the Ivan Fischer 3 CD set (excellent), the main omissions are:

- _Music for Strings, Percussion & Celeste 
- The Miraculous Mandarin_

It´s not so common that those two are combined on one CD; Dorati/decca and Boulez/DG do that. Maybe also check out Bernstein/Sony or Mravinsky for example, in the _Music for Strings _....

Bartoks concertante works - 5 for piano & orchestra, 2 violin concertos & 2 rhapsodies, viola concerto, concerto for 2 pianos in the orchestrated version - are some of his most attractive too, the viola concerto being more introvert though, and the 2-piano work being quite harsh.

As regards the piano works with Kocsis, I hope you are thinking of the complete set; the 2-cd set on Brilliant (including Bartok playing too) doesn´t provide enough works, IMO.


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## Kilgore Trout (Feb 26, 2014)

Haydn man said:


> View attachment 77900
> 
> 
> I have this set and can recommend it, there are all the major orchestral works and I have used this as my introduction to Bartok throughout this year


Avoid this one. Seems like Boulez forgot ou to play Bartok over the years. Prefer the old Boulez Sony set, or the Ivan Fischer one.


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## Kilgore Trout (Feb 26, 2014)

joen_cph said:


> If it is the Ivan Fischer 3 CD set (excellent), the main omissions are:
> - The Miraculous Mandarin[/I]


The Miraculous Mandarin is in fact in the Fischer set, a very strong interpretation with that.

And there are only 3 piano concertos, not 5.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Kilgore Trout said:


> The Miraculous Mandarin is in fact in the Fischer set, a very strong interpretation with that.
> 
> And there are only 3 piano concertos, not 5.


Fischer´s 3 CD set seems to exist in two versions, a Philips and a Classic Mania budget release; I have the Classic Mania version, where the Mandarin is listed poorly in the track listing on the back of the packet, just as a movement of one of the other works, hence my misjudgement. So you are right, it´s there, in both sets. Personally, I have become most accustomed to listen to the Cambreling recording (among those I have), but won´t really recommend it, because it is a part of 2 CD set with otherwise less succesful performances & a very mixed programme. I´m pretty sure that Fischer is good.

There is the _Rhapsody_ for piano & orchestra and the _Scherzo_ for piano & orchestra, besides the 3 piano concertos, making it 5 concertante pieces. Kocsis recorded all of them. I have always liked the "Rhapsody", hearing it at first in an old, temperamental Sandor recording on Turnabout.

BTW, I agree that early Boulez is usually worth checking out in comparison to the later DG one.


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## Kilgore Trout (Feb 26, 2014)

joen_cph said:


> There is the _Rhapsody_ for piano & orchestra and the _Scherzo_ for piano & orchestra, besides the 3 piano concertos, making it 5 concertante pieces. Kocsis recorded all of them. I have always liked the "Rhapsody", hearing it at first in an old, temperamental Sandor recording on Turnabout.


Oh, you were counting these youth pieces, ok. I don't think they're really worth a listen, especially for starters...


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Kilgore Trout said:


> Oh, you were counting these youth pieces, ok. I don't think they're really worth a listen, especially for starters...


They certainly represent a more romantically influenced, say Lisztian, Bartok than his later works. 
As such, they can even be easier to like immediately.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Ivan Fischer is brilliant. I've heard him conduct Bartok live a few times. Magnificent! (Does great Mahler too.)


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