Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta

Béla Bartók

Recordings

Top Choice

Antal Doráti / London Symphony Orchestra

Early 1960s

Prime recommendation. From a wonderful set. Excellent Mercury recording. Great interpretation, not just a showpiece, but also fleshes out the mysterious elements.

Label: Mercury Living Presence

Also Worth Hearing

Fritz Reiner / Chicago Symphony Orchestra

late 1950s

The old classic. Excellent RCA Living Stereo sound, spectacular playing. Could be a bit 'just-the-facts' and lacks some of the mystery Doráti finds, but still beautiful and exciting.

Label: RCA Living Stereo

Ferenc Fricsay / Berlin Radio Symphony

1953 Mono recording. A little dim.

For more interpretive insight. Very intense, very dramatic, and does a great job setting the atmosphere. Sound is a bit dim (mono).

Evgeny Mravinsky / Leningrad Philharmonic

1970 Live recording, a little noisy but good presence.

A very dramatic outfit that never held back. Really impassioned and dramatic. The 1965 version is similar, maybe slightly better recorded, but this one is slightly more intense.

Raphael Kubelik / Chicago Symphony Orchestra

1951 Mono, but Mercury Living Presence. Good clarity and presence.

Brings drama, power, and intensity. A very intense, impassioned performance, not 'just the facts'. The Chicago Symphony plays impeccably. Really exciting.

Label: Mercury Living Presence