Bartók: Miraculous Mandarin & Violin Concerto No. 2 / Gielen, ORF VRSO

$20.99
Label
Orfeo
Release Date
February 7, 2025
Format
Added to Cart! View cart or continue shopping.


    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      Bela Bartok
    • CONDUCTOR
      Michael Gielen
    • ORCHESTRA / ENSEMBLE
      ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
    • PERFORMER
      Ernst Kovacic
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      February 07, 2025
    • UPC
      4011790230047
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      ORF-C230141
    • LABEL
      Orfeo
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Modern Era
    Works ⌄

    1. Opening - The girl and three tramps

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien

      Conductor: Michael Gielen

    2. First seduction game: the shabby old rake

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien

      Conductor: Michael Gielen

    3. Second seduction game: the young student

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien

      Conductor: Michael Gielen

    4. Third seduction game

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien

      Conductor: Michael Gielen

    5. The Mandarin enters and remains immobile in the doorway

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien

      Conductor: Michael Gielen

    6. The girl sinks down to embrace him

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien

      Conductor: Michael Gielen

    7. The three tramps leap out, seize the Mandarin and tear him away from the girl

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien

      Conductor: Michael Gielen

    8. Suddenly the Mandarin's head appears between the pillows and he looks longingly at the girl

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien

      Conductor: Michael Gielen

    9. The terrified tramps discuss how they are to get rid of the Mandarin

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien

      Conductor: Michael Gielen

    10. The body of the Mandarin begins to glow with a greenish blue light

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: ORF Vienna Radio Choir, Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien

      Conductor: Michael Gielen

    11. She resists no longer – they embrace

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien

      Conductor: Michael Gielen

    12. I. Allegro non troppo

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien

      Performer: Ernst Kovacic

      Conductor: Michael Gielen

    13. II. Andante tranquillo

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien

      Performer: Ernst Kovacic

      Conductor: Michael Gielen

    14. III. Allegro molto

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien

      Performer: Ernst Kovacic

      Conductor: Michael Gielen


‘The Miraculous Mandarin’ (Op. 19, Sz. 73) is Bartók's last work for the stage. The plot revolves around prostitution, brutality, robbery, murder, being an outsider, (unrequited) love, and finally, as a catharsis, a kind of love-death. The music is relentlessly sharp for long stretches, garishly dissonant, radical—probably the most modern score Bartók created. The premiere (1926) in Cologne was a scandal, and Konrad Adenauer, then Lord Mayor of Cologne, immediately cancelled the performances.The Violin Concerto No. 2, Sz. 112, was composed between August 1937 and December 31, 1938, shortly before Bartók's emigration to the United States in view of the increasingly oppressive political and social climate in Hungary. Unlike the ‘Mandarin,’ the work quickly established itself after its premiere in Amsterdam in 1939 as one of the central violin concertos of the first half of the 20th century, and at the same time, as one of Bartók's greatest creations.

In the course of his long career, Michael Gielen has been Music Director of the Royal Opera in Stockholm, the Belgian National Orchestra in Brussels, the Dutch Opera, and the Frankfurt Opera. He was also Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Staatskapelle Berlin, as well as Chief Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Südwestfunk Symphony Orchestra.