Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta, Sz. 106 and

Rafael Kubelik recorded Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra twice commercially, and two live recordings (including this one) also grace the current catalog. His finest version, indeed one of the select reference editions of the work, remains his Boston Symphony performance for DG, but his live effort differs from that one sufficiently to warrant further investigation. Kubelik's studio recordings often differ substantially from his concert versions. Here, he plays the three inner movements as one, at virtually a single tempo, sacrificing some of the darkness and intensity of the slow movement but compensating with a tremendously exciting attack on the finale. The Bavarian players follow him every step of the way, not quite as polished individually or as an ensemble as their Boston counterparts, but enormously committed all the same. The 1978 recording sounds just a touch too distantly miked for ideal textural clarity, but it's otherwise warm and full. Kubelik's mono Mercury Living Presenc