# Recordings of The Miraculous Mandarin



## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

What recordings of Bartók's _The Miraculous Mandarin_ do you like? (whether it be the whole ballet or the suite)


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## Handelian (Nov 18, 2020)

Dorati is pretty good


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## david johnson (Jun 25, 2007)

I have Dorati and Martinon/Chicago


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Martinon/CSO is the best I've ever heard, really dynamite....Kertesz/CSO live is just about as good....the CSO really has this piece down!!


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## bavlf (Oct 4, 2020)

Claudio Abbado . 1983 . LSO The Miraculous Mandarin . Ambrosian Singers . John McCarthy


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## Simplicissimus (Feb 3, 2020)

My favorite is Martinon/Chicago (1968, RCA Red Seal), but I also like Ozawa/Boston (1975, DGG).


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

Yeah. The Suite from the Chicago Symphony with Martinon kicks butt.


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## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

How is Solti's recording? Wasn't he a student of Bartók?


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

Solti was indeed a Bartok student, taught him piano. Solti is an excellent Bartok conductor (and actually his recording of the Sonata for Two Pianos & Percussion with Perahia is pretty decent too!), although I generally feel his earlier recordings are a little bit more earthy (and thus "better") than his later Chicago ones. But SOlti is one of four guys I'd automatically turn to for guaranteed quality, alongside Ferenc Fricsay, Antal Dorati and Ivan Fischer.

I do have an issue with Solti's Mandarin recordings, though. He only ever did the Suite not the complete ballet, and although this may not matter to some, for me it's like having a recording of the first three movements only of a Beethoven symphony, in other words pretty pointless. The closing ten minutes, which are not in the suite, provide the whole point of the story, the Miraculous bit, and have some truly wonderful music that is both powerful and other-worldly. I cannot for the life of me understand why he never bothered, tastes did change, and by the time Solti recorded it for a second time, it was the absolute norm to record/perform the whole thing. And besides, he is great in the music he has recorded of the Mandarin....

My two favourite recordings are Dorati's earliest one (BBC SO - there's an earlier Suite, and his last one - Detroit - on Decca is a bit too smooth, surprisingly), on the Mercury label, and Ivan Fischer with his Budapest Festival lot on Philips.


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## Knorf (Jan 16, 2020)

The "Suite" (really just a bloody awful truncation) for me is always a huge let down. I recommend those interested in this piece stick to the full ballet. So much better! Sorry, Martinon. 

My favorites include Dorati for sure. But also Iván Fischer's with the Budapest Festival Orchestra is sensational, and the most crushing, savage performance of all might be Boulez/New York Phil. Definitely get the Dutton remaster of the latter, if interested! 

And Pasternack/London Symphony on Naxos is worth a shout even though it's just the "suite."


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I have the complete work, recorded by LPO/Franz Welser-Möst - it was a fortunate inclusion on the EMI reissue of Oliver Knussen's recording of Britten's _Prince of the Pagodas_ as it was a rare case when both works on the same discs were important gap-fillers. I can't say how well FW-M shapes up against other recordings but I'm glad to have the whole thing.


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## Mathias Broucek (Feb 18, 2020)

Knorf said:


> The "Suite" (really just a bloody awful truncation) for me is always a huge let down. I recommend those interested in this piece stick to the full ballet. So much better! Sorry, Martinon.
> 
> My favorites include Dorati for sure. But also Iván Fischer's with the Budapest Festival Orchestra is sensational, and the most crushing, savage performance of all might be Boulez/New York Phil. Definitely get the Dutton remaster of the latter, if interested!
> 
> And Pasternack/London Symphony on Naxos is worth a shout even though it's just the "suite."


Amen to the suite being poor... Another vote for Boulez for me.


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## Knorf (Jan 16, 2020)

Incidentally, the Boulez/CSO _Mandarin_ is good, too: very rich and detailed, but just not quite as intensely rhythmic and savage as the New York account.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Knorf said:


> The "Suite" (really just a bloody awful truncation) for me is always a huge let down. I recommend those interested in this piece stick to the full ballet. So much better! Sorry, Martinon.
> 
> My favorites include Dorati for sure. But also Iván Fischer's with the Budapest Festival Orchestra is sensational, and the most crushing, savage performance of all might be Boulez/New York Phil. Definitely get the Dutton remaster of the latter, if interested!
> 
> And Pasternack/London Symphony on Naxos is worth a shout even though it's just the "suite."


I have the Boulez/NYPhil as a Sony SACD (paired with the Concerto for Orchestra). From the cover art, it appears it's from the quadraphonic era, and the orchestra is spread out over all four channels. Alas, I don't have a surround system, so I've only listened to it in stereo. Has anyone ever heard it in multi-channel?


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

I remember hearing the Boulez/NYPO complete when it came out...I don't recall the complete being that much better than the suite, which, imo, is s real knockout number....I guess I should give the complete version another listen....Martinon and Kertesz are very convincing with the suite....they certainly "sell it"...


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