Exploring French EMI's: Kubelik Conducts Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra

Greetings on this mid-August Saturday afternoon!  I hope that wherever you may be around the world, you are taking some time to enjoy the weekend with some of your favorite music.

After having taken a brief pause for the summer, I'd like to continue where I left off a few months ago with my exploration of French EMI recordings released on the La Voix de Son Maitre label.

La Voix de Son Maitre ASDF 221

Bartok: Concerto pour Orchestre, Deux Portraits Op. 5

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Rafael Kubelik, conductor

Matrix numbers: 2YEA 151-9 1 / 152-6 2

Bela Bartok composed his Concerto for Orchestra in 1943, a few years after his emigration to the United States. The work was commissioned by Serge Koussevitsky (conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra at that time) and is one of Bartok's best known compositions.  It consists of five movements: Introduzione, Presentando le coppie, Elegia, Intermezzo interrotto, and Finale. In contrast with your more typical concerto, which is written for one or a number of solo instruments and orchestra, this one is strictly for orchestra.  Apparently, Bartok designated the work a concerto rather than a symphony because of how each of the orchestral sections functions like a virtuosic, solo instrument.  The Concerto was premiered on December 1, 1944 and has since been a staple of the orchestral repertoire.

Early mono recordings of the work include those from Fritz Reiner and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (CBS, 1946), Herbert von Karajan and the Philharmonia Orchestra (Columbia, 1953), Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra (CBS, 1954), and Ernest Ansermet and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Decca/London, 1956). 

In the decade from 1956 to 1966, pretty much every major classical record label and its top orchestra(s) produced a stereo recording of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra. Among the many choices are the following, in chronological order by release date:

• 1958 - Fritz Reiner / Chicago Symphony Orchestra (RCA LSC-1934)
• 1959 - Rafael Kubelik / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (EMI/HMV ASD 312)
• 1959 - Ernest Ansermet / L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (London CS 6086, no UK Decca stereo release)
• 1960 - Leonard Bernstein / New York Philharmonic (CBS MS 6140)
• 1961 - Bernard Haitink / Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Philips 835 070 AY)
• 1963 - Erich Leinsdorf / Boston Symphony Orchestra (RCA LSC-2643)
• 1963 - Karl Ancerl / Czech Philharmonic (Supraphon SUA ST 50515)
• 1964 - Antal Dorati / London Symphony Orchestra (Mercury Living Presence SR 90378)
• 1964 - Eugene Ormandy / Philadelphia Orchestra (CBS MS 6626)
• 1965 - Georg Solti / London Symphony Orchestra (Decca SXL 6212, London CS 6469)
• 1965 - George Szell / Cleveland Orchestra (CBS MS 6815)
• 1966 - Herbert von Karajan / Berlin Philharmonic (Deutsche Grammophon 139 003 SPLM)

This is the French release of the 1959 Kubelik/RPO recording (UK ASD 312), with matrix numbers that appear to match those of the white/gold first UK issue.  As you can see above, the French ASDF sports a more sober and pensive photograph of Bartok, while the UK/USA/Canadian releases all share this painted portrait of the composer with more colorful, bolded letter art.

According to Popsike, the median price of the French ASDF is roughly $30, compared with $42 for the UK white/gold ASD. Discogs displays lower median prices for both ($8.70 for the ASDF, $30 for the ASD).

This 1959 recording is one of the several Kubelik made for HMV with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) sometime after his tenure as musical director of The Royal Opera, Covent Garden (1955-1958) and before taking the helm of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (1961-1979). The others include recordings of Schubert's "Great" C major Symphony, Brahms' Hungarian Dances paired with Dvorak's Slavonic Dance No. 3 and Scherzo Capriccio, and Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. 

 

Although I have not had the opportunity to listen to either the UK HMV or US Capitol release of this album, I can say that the French VSM is well worth seeking.  Kubelik and the RPO give a convincing performance.  The record has an open and expansive sound, with commendable width, depth, and height to the soundstage and sharp imaging of the orchestral sections.  Dynamic range is excellent, particularly in the outer movements of the Concerto, and thanks to the quiet surfaces, even the softest musical passages can be heard with clarity.  The Concerto is paired with Bartok's two Portraits, which are similarly accessible and as well performed as the Concerto.  

The Stereo Record Guide, Vol. 2 (The Long Playing Record Library, 1961) gave the HMV ASD a glowing three stars and a demonstration "D", with this to say:

"Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra is frequently, and rightly, recommended to developing listeners as a good introduction to that master's work. It belongs to his last period, and is neither difficult to appreciate nor impossible to fathom. But it is extremely difficult to conduct, and the man who can secure a performance of this work that is at one and the same time accurate and spontaneous in feeling may be proud of himself. This is in fact what Kubelik does, and he has every justification in feeling proud of this record, for it is the finest to date both as regards splendour of orchestral sound and vigour of interpretation. This is a virtuoso piece and Bartok meant it to be played that way. Kubelik gives it this quality, especially in the outer movements, yet never forces his own personality forward. The voice of the composer is allowed to speak for itself, aided by first-rate orchestral playing. The Two Portraits are much earlier works, but they too can be listened to, even for the first time, with keen enjoyment."