Bartók: Four Orchestral Pieces, Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta & Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin Melbourne Symphony Orchestra & Edward Gardner

• Béla Bartók (1881 - 1945): The Miraculous Mandarin Suite, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82:
• 1 Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin Suite, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Opening 02:36
• 2 Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin Suite, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: First Seduction Game. The Shabby Old Rake 03:43
• 3 Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin Suite, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Second Seduction Game. The Young Student 03:22
• 4 Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin Suite, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: Third Seduction Game 02:30
• 5 Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin Suite, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: The girl begins a hesitant dance… 03:50
• 6 Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin Suite, Op. 19, Sz. 73, BB 82: The Mandarin Stumbles - The chase becomes even more passionate 03:13
• Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, Sz. 106, BB 114:
• 7 Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, Sz. 106, BB 114: I. Andante tranquillo 08:23
• 8 Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, Sz. 106, BB 114: II. Allegro 07:37
• 9 Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, Sz. 106, BB 114: III. Adagio 07:49
• 10 Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, Sz. 106, BB 114: IV. Allegro molto 07:20
• Four Orchestral Pieces, Op. 12, Sz. 51, BB 64:
• 11 Bartók: Four Orchestral Pieces, Op. 12, Sz. 51, BB 64: I. Preludio. Moderato 07:14
• 12 Bartók: Four Orchestral Pieces, Op. 12, Sz. 51, BB 64: II. Scherzo. Allegro 06:23
• 13 Bartók: Four Orchestral Pieces, Op. 12, Sz. 51, BB 64: III. Intermezzo. Moderato 04:40
• 14 Bartók: Four Orchestral Pieces, Op. 12, Sz. 51, BB 64: IV. Marcia funebre. Maestoso 04:28
• Total Runtime 01:13:08

Info for Bartók: Four Orchestral Pieces, Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta & Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin

Edward Gardner and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra perform three great orchestral works by Béla Bartók in this new Chandos release. Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta is a seminal work written for a unique ensemble consisting two string orchestras, playing from opposite sides of the stage, and a group of percussion instruments in addition to the piano, harp, and celesta. The piece took on wider recognition when it was used by Stanley Kubrick on the soundtrack of The Shining. Also on this disc is the Suite from Bartók’s dark and gritty ballet The Miraculous Mandarin. The work, featuring some of the most colourful music Bartók wrote, tells the story of three criminals who force a young woman to lure passers-by into a room where they intend to rob them. The third passer-by to enter the room is the mandarin. The men try to kill him, but only when the girl satisfies his desire do his wounds begin to bleed, and he dies. The Four Orchestral Pieces, drafted in 1912, but not orchestrated until 1921, were written at a time when Bartók felt both misunderstood and ignored and had withdrawn from musical life in Budapest. These feelings of rejection may well have intensified the anger and cynicism found in this work.

“… Edward Gardner and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra give first-rate performances of all this music, with a real virtuoso account of the exhilarating Miraculous MandarinSuite, in particular…” (Misha Donat, BBC Music)

"...The Melbourne orchestra sounds wonderful in these two works the third and fourth pieces, in particular, are infused with the grand, beautiful pathos of Bartok’s contemporaneous opera, Bluebeard’s Castle. The Miraculous mandarin ballet suite makes a sizzling beginning. Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta again reveals how much scaring intensity can lie in pure abstraction." (Paul Driver, The Sunday Times)

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Edward Gardner, conductor

Edward Gardner
Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic since October 2015, Edward Gardner has led the orchestra on multiple international tours, including performances in Berlin, Munich and Amsterdam and at the BBC Proms and Edinburgh International Festival. Edward was recently appointed Principal Conductor Designate of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, with his tenure commencing in September 2021.

In demand as a guest conductor, the previous two seasons saw Edward debut with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Wiener Symphoniker and the Royal Opera House in a new production of Káťa Kabanová (praised as a ‘magnificent interpretation’ by The Guardian); while returns included engagements with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Philharmonia Orchestra and Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano. In April 2019, he conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Lincoln Center in New York.

The 2019/20 season sees Edward appear at the Royal Opera House — for a revival of Benoît Jacquot’s production of Werther — and Metropolitan Opera for performances of Le damnation de Faust. In London he conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra in four concerts across the season and brings the Bergen Philharmonic to the Royal Festival Hall with their acclaimed Peter Grimes. He finishes the season by taking the Bergen Philharmonic on their first ever tour to China. Guest conducting highlights include performances with the San Francisco Symphony, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

Music Director of English National Opera for ten years (2006-15), Edward has an ongoing relationship with New York’s Metropolitan Opera where he has conducted productions of Carmen, Don Giovanni, Der Rosenkavalier and Werther. Elsewhere, he has conducted at La Scala, Chicago Lyric Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Opéra National de Paris.

Booklet for Bartók: Four Orchestral Pieces, Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta & Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin