Search - Stravisnky, Bartok, Dohnanyi :: Stravinsky: Petrushka; Bartok: Miraculous Mandarin [Australia]

Unusual pairing is the attraction

Larry VanDeSande | Mason, Michigan United States | 07/05/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Australian Eloquence reintroduced Christoph von Dohnanyi's pairing of Stravinsky's 1947 "Petrushka" suite with Bartok's "Miraculous Mandarin" in 2004. Dohnanyi made the original recordings with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1978 and 1981, resepctively. Oddly,this Australian import is now available in USA and not available in Australia.



I bought this for the pairing since I'd been trying to acquire a good reading of Petrushka that wasn't linked to another Stravinsky ballet. This is my first exposre to Miraculous Mandarin, a pantomine for stage about murder and worse. It is full of ill behavior and brilliant orchestral writing and ideas and is the type of music in which the late George Solti would soar above other conductors. His legendary recording of Miraculous Mandarin is still available and still getting five star reviews from Amazon critics.



So what about this one? I like this recording, like just about everything about it. I gave it four stars for that reason. I wouldn't say the Petrushka suite gives the unbridled idea of Russian life I heard from Mravinsky and some others but it's very good. The Bartok is better, I think, and probably more representative of the composer's own blood and soul. People have called Dohnanyi a stuffy German intellectual but you don't hear that in this music. The conductor was born to German and Hungarian blood and was grandson to the famed composer, from whom he acquired his musical soul.



The Vienna Philharmonic, which many would never consider a great Stravinsky or Batok orchestra, plays very well for him and the recording is reperesentative Decca for its era. This has gotten good marks around the world for years and, after hearing it for the first time, I can see why. As is the norm for this label, it includes a couple pages of untitle and unattributed notes that help a novice understand what the music is about both in dramtic narrative and musicicological description.



It makes a good package and anyone seeking this particular combination need not hesitate to grab this offering while it's availalbe. Australian Eloquence recordings have a tendency to become NA overnight so, if you have an interest, go for it."