Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
Bartók: The Wooden Prince; Dance Suite / Măcelaru, WDR Symphony Orchestra
Linn Records

Bartók: The Wooden Prince; Dance Suite / Măcelaru, WDR Symphony Orchestra

$20.99

Details

Composer
Bela Bartok
Artist
Cristian Macelaru, Wdr Sinfonieorchester
Format
CD
Label
Linn Records
Released
Mar 10, 2023
Catalog #
CKD714
UPC
691062071420

About

Following their first album for Linn (Dvorák: Legends Op. 59, Czech Suite Op. 39), the WDR Sinfonieorchester and Cristian Măcelaru pursue the same folk vein with two orchestral works by Béla Bartók. Based on a rather childish tale (prince, princess, fairies, and of course a happy ending!), the music of the ballet The Wooden Prince – recorded in full here – has all the ingredients of a masterpiece: masterful scoring for large forces, use of musical themes, an effortless amalgam of folk and late-Romantic elements.

Composed in 1923 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the merging of the towns of Buda and Pest – alongside commissions by Ernö Dohnányi and Zoltán Kodály – the century-old Dance Suite is a six-movement work that has become one of Bartók’s best known compositions. Born in Timișoara, a short distance from Hungary, Măcelaru can boast an unparalleled understanding of Bartók, as evident here.

REVIEW:

For overall quality Măcelaru rivals Mälkki, and comparing the two readings episode by episode, one is as likely as the other to convey a little more mood and color. But neither really has the freshness of discovery and excitement heard in Boulez’s first account on Sony, and neither of the two orchestras, the WDR Symphony and Helsinki Philharmonic, approaches Boulez’s spectacular results with the New York Philharmonic.

Măcelaru is up against it again in the Dance Suite, which has had outstanding recordings from Fricsay, Boulez, Solti, and Iván Fischer, among others. Less raw than Solti, Măcelaru shows himself a master of the score in a reading that crackles with aliveness and presence. He gets animated playing from the Cologne musicians, and you quickly forget that they are not on a par with eminent ensembles in this music.

I was captivated from start to finish, and more importantly, I got a bead on Măcelaru beyond my only other exposure to him, in the Shostakovich piano concertos. There’s no reason not to give this release the same enthusiastic praise that has become the norm for Măcelaru. The recorded sound is full, vivid, and lifelike.

-- Fanfare

Tracklist 19 tracks

  1. 1 Opening - 05:39
    Track
    1
    Title
    Opening -
    Duration
    05:39
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Ensemble
    WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
    Conductor
    Cristian Măcelaru
  2. 2 First Dance: Dance of the Princess in the Forest - 02:19
    Track
    2
    Title
    First Dance: Dance of the Princess in the Forest -
    Duration
    02:19
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Ensemble
    WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
    Conductor
    Cristian Măcelaru
  3. 3 The Prince Meets the Fairy and Sees the Princess - 02:44
    Track
    3
    Title
    The Prince Meets the Fairy and Sees the Princess -
    Duration
    02:44
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Ensemble
    WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
    Conductor
    Cristian Măcelaru
  4. 4 Second Dance: Dance of the Trees - 04:59
    Track
    4
    Title
    Second Dance: Dance of the Trees -
    Duration
    04:59
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Ensemble
    WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
    Conductor
    Cristian Măcelaru
  5. 5 Third Dance: Dance of the Waves - 04:16
    Track
    5
    Title
    Third Dance: Dance of the Waves -
    Duration
    04:16
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Ensemble
    WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
    Conductor
    Cristian Măcelaru
  6. 6 The Prince Has an Idea - 07:22
    Track
    6
    Title
    The Prince Has an Idea -
    Duration
    07:22
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Ensemble
    WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
    Conductor
    Cristian Măcelaru
  7. 7 Fourth Dance: Dance of the Princess with the Wooden Prince - 05:30
    Track
    7
    Title
    Fourth Dance: Dance of the Princess with the Wooden Prince -
    Duration
    05:30
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Ensemble
    WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
    Conductor
    Cristian Măcelaru
  8. 8 The Prince is in Despair - 07:26
    Track
    8
    Title
    The Prince is in Despair -
    Duration
    07:26
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Ensemble
    WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
    Conductor
    Cristian Măcelaru
  9. 9 Restored from His Lassitude the Prince Walks 02:24
    Track
    9
    Title
    Restored from His Lassitude the Prince Walks
    Duration
    02:24
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Ensemble
    WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
    Conductor
    Cristian Măcelaru
  10. 10 Fifth Dance: The Princess Prods and Encourages the Wooden Prince to Dance - 02:59
    Track
    10
    Title
    Fifth Dance: The Princess Prods and Encourages the Wooden Prince to Dance -
    Duration
    02:59
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Ensemble
    WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
    Conductor
    Cristian Măcelaru
  11. 11 Sixth Dance: With an Alluring Dance, the Princess Tries to Appeal to the Prince - 01:43
    Track
    11
    Title
    Sixth Dance: With an Alluring Dance, the Princess Tries to Appeal to the Prince -
    Duration
    01:43
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Ensemble
    WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
    Conductor
    Cristian Măcelaru
  12. 12 Seventh Dance: The Despair of the Princess - 04:49
    Track
    12
    Title
    Seventh Dance: The Despair of the Princess -
    Duration
    04:49
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Ensemble
    WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
    Conductor
    Cristian Măcelaru
  13. 13 The Happy Ending 04:43
    Track
    13
    Title
    The Happy Ending
    Duration
    04:43
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Ensemble
    WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
    Conductor
    Cristian Măcelaru
  14. 14 I. Moderato 03:29
    Track
    14
    Title
    I. Moderato
    Duration
    03:29
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Ensemble
    WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
    Conductor
    Cristian Măcelaru
  15. 15 II. Allegro molto 02:17
    Track
    15
    Title
    II. Allegro molto
    Duration
    02:17
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Ensemble
    WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
    Conductor
    Cristian Măcelaru
  16. 16 III. Allegro vivace 02:59
    Track
    16
    Title
    III. Allegro vivace
    Duration
    02:59
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Ensemble
    WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
    Conductor
    Cristian Măcelaru
  17. 17 IV. Molto tranquillo 03:37
    Track
    17
    Title
    IV. Molto tranquillo
    Duration
    03:37
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Ensemble
    WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
    Conductor
    Cristian Măcelaru
  18. 18 V. Commodo 01:12
    Track
    18
    Title
    V. Commodo
    Duration
    01:12
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Ensemble
    WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
    Conductor
    Cristian Măcelaru
  19. 19 VI. Finale 03:56
    Track
    19
    Title
    VI. Finale
    Duration
    03:56
    Composer
    Béla Bartók
    Ensemble
    WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
    Conductor
    Cristian Măcelaru