Opera In English - Bartok: Bluebeard's Castle

$13.99
Label
Chandos
Release Date
May 1, 2006
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      BARTOK, BELA
    • ORCHESTRA / ENSEMBLE
      Opera North Orchestra
    • PERFORMER
      Burgess, Farnes
    Product Details ⌄
    Works ⌄

    1. Prologue: Bluebeard's castle, a myth, a legend (Minstrel)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: John Tomlinson

      Conductor: Richard Farnes

    2. Opening: Will you enter? Look around you (Bluebeard)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: John Tomlinson

      Conductor: Richard Farnes

    3. Opening: Here I am in Bluebeard's castle (Judith)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: Sally Burgess

      Conductor: Richard Farnes

    4. Opening: Tell me why you came here, Judith (Bluebeard)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: John Tomlinson

      Conductor: Richard Farnes

    5. Opening: Ah! I can see 7 doorways (Judith)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: Sally Burgess

      Conductor: Richard Farnes

    6. First Door: The Torture Chamber: Oh, I heard your castle sighing (Judith)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: Sally Burgess

      Conductor: Richard Farnes

    7. First Door: The Torture Chamber: What's there? What's there? (Bluebeard)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: John Tomlinson

      Conductor: Richard Farnes

    8. Second Door: The Armoury: What's there? (Bluebeard)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: John Tomlinson

      Conductor: Richard Farnes

    9. Second Door: The Armoury: Trembling seizes all my castle (Bluebeard)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: John Tomlinson

      Conductor: Richard Farnes

    10. Third Door: The Treasury: Glittering gold! (Judith)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: Sally Burgess

      Conductor: Richard Farnes

    11. Fourth Door: The Secret Garden: Oh! Lovely flowers! Oh! Beautiful scents (Judith)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: Sally Burgess

      Conductor: Richard Farnes

    12. Fifth Door: Bluebeard's Kingdom: Ah! (Judith)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: Sally Burgess

      Conductor: Richard Farnes

    13. Fifth Door: Bluebeard's Kingdom: Look! Brightness has filled my castle (Bluebeard)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: John Tomlinson

      Conductor: Richard Farnes

    14. Sixth Door: Tears: Silent tranquil peaceful waters … (Judith)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: Sally Burgess

      Conductor: Richard Farnes

    15. Sixth Door: Tears: My last door will stay unopened (Bluebeard)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: John Tomlinson

      Conductor: Richard Farnes

    16. Sixth Door: Tears: Tell me truly, tell me Bluebeard (Judith)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: Sally Burgess

      Conductor: Richard Farnes

    17. Sixth Door: Tears: I know what's behind it Bluebeard (Judith)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: Sally Burgess

      Conductor: Richard Farnes

    18. Seventh Door: Bluebeard's Former Wives: Look upon the other women (Bluebeard)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: John Tomlinson

      Conductor: Richard Farnes

    19. Seventh Door: Bluebeard's Former Wives: Daybreak - when I found the first one (Bluebeard)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: John Tomlinson

      Conductor: Richard Farnes

    20. Seventh Door: Bluebeard's Former Wives: Midnight - when I found the fourth floor (Bluebeard)

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Ensemble: Orchestra of Opera North

      Performer: John Tomlinson

      Conductor: Richard Farnes


This opera, so dependent on the wedding of text and music, is a natural candidate for Opera-in-English (I believe one of the first recordings of the work, with Jerome Hines and Rosalind Elias, was in English). The argument that Bartók carefully composed it to match the rises and falls of Hungarian remains valid, but understanding the text is just as important to listeners. The diction of both John Tomlinson and Sally Burgess is impeccable without being too stilted (read: British); of course the bass and mezzo-soprano voices are easier to understand than the higher ranges.

Both singers are superb here. If Tomlinson is sounding a bit old, he's certainly not sounding weak, and the pitch-darkness of his tone is just right for this enigma of a man. "Forbidding" is the word that comes to mind. (He also speaks the Prologue, and sounds properly dour.) Burgess does almost everything right (she drops the high-C at the fifth door too quickly for it to have the resounding effect it ought to) and she can sound genuinely frightened without overstating or exaggerating. Her performance is all-of-a-piece; she's thoroughly believable.

The score is a study in brightness and grief, chiaroscurically speaking, and the clarity of the recording, the elegance and excellence of the playing of Opera North's Orchestra, and the leadership of Richard Farnes lets us experience most of the contrasts. It's not as vivid as renditions by Solti or Kertesz, but it's fine nonetheless. After the Kertesz (with Ludwig and Berry), this set is a fine choice if the English language doesn't get in your way--or if it's exactly what you need.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com