Search - Bela Bartok, Ivan Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra :: Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; Dance Suite

This should have been good Bartók: a fine Hungarian conductor leading a fine orchestra. And you do notice the idiomatic rightness of the playing immediately. These musicians speak Hungarian in their music-making, and the music is obviously influenced by the composer's native speech patterns. But that's where the special virtues end, alas. There is a washed-out feel to these performances, which are lacking in contrasts and emotional power, keeping the music from coming to life. And the recording doesn't make the orchestra leap out of the speakers, either. Try Bernstein (Sony Classical SMK 47510) or Reiner (RCA 09026-61504-2) in the Concerto, Ferencsik (Everest EVC 9000) in the Suite. --Leslie Gerber