# Bartok wooden prince vs miraculeous mandarin suite?



## deprofundis

If you would have to choose a ballet by bartok which one would you discarded...
You know what i can choose between these two masterwork.

Yes the miraculeous mandarin is a force majeure to be reckon whit, but the wooden prince
is wagnerian in way or remind me of Wagner chromatism.

The story goes i had many lisen of miraculeous mandarin and eventually i discover afterward the wooden prince that has somesort of fairy tale magic occuring in the work,in others word the ambience is killer.

Did i mention wooden prince intro is probably one of the top ten best intro song ever, this top ten include Schoenberg gurrelieder intro.But let's stay in the subject.

But the miraculeous mandarin suite remain more focus?

So out of tedious details i would choose the last affored mention ballet.


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## elgar's ghost

MM is far more the complete package to me - the plot has a touch of surreal kinkiness about it which was spot-on for the _zeitgeist_ of the Roaring '20s (even though it was written the decade before) and BB's music effortlessly matches the story's topicality and changes of pace.

The music for WP - composed the decade before in a much broader, late Romantic style - is sufficiently enjoyable in its own right, which is just as well seeing the ultra-corny plot featuring stock characters of prince, princess and evil fairy is a total turkey and was already passé by then.


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## Triplets

Second the above. Mandarin makes a big impression on me, and I have several recordings of it--2 by Dorati, one each by Marin Alsop, Boulez and Ivan Fischer. Not only is the plot more compelling and contemporary, but the music still sems brash and contemporary sounding, not bad for a piece approaching 100 years of age.
Wooden Prince sounds more late 19th Century, like Bartok's Kossuth Symphony. It's ok but it doesn't really say 'Bartok' to me.


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## brotagonist

I like them both, but, if I really had to choose, I'd go with the MM. I like how elgars ghost puts it :tiphat:


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## sharik

deprofundis said:


> the wooden prince


reminds somewhat of _The Nutcracker_.


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## starthrower

I need a better recording of Mandarin. I just put on my Philips CD by Ivan Fischer, and the sound is tinny and flat. That Dorati/Kubelik CD looks good, but it's mono sound.


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## tdc

I prefer The Miraculous Mandarin by a wide margin. The Wooden Prince is one of the few works by Bartok that really doesn't do much for me.


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## manyene

The Wooden Prince is entirely unmemorable, in contrast to MM


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## Heck148

starthrower said:


> I need a better recording of Mandarin. I just put on my Philips CD by Ivan Fischer, and the sound is tinny and flat. That Dorati/Kubelik CD looks good, but it's mono sound.


Martinon/Chicago, from 4/67....amazing. best I've ever heard in a highly competitive field. Great drive, violence, ferocity, wonderful clarinet section work, low brass is top drawer all the way...
Kertesz/CSO [4/68 - [archival set - CSO -1st 100 Years] is also excellent, very similar to Martinon. Martinon takes the final section just a tad slower, which enables the orchestra to deliver a really ferocious "bite" to the sound and driving rhythm. both very fine.


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## Vasks

heck148 said:


> martinon/chicago, from 4/67....amazing. Great drive, violence, ferocity


This!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Manxfeeder

Solti should also be added into the mix.


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