Bartók: Duke Bluebeard's Castle, Sz. 48, Op. 11

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Kertész shapes the music admirably, and Walter Berry makes an appropriately compassionate Bluebeard (as opposed to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau on DG, who is altogether too menacing); but neither... — BBC Music Magazine, January 2012, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Catalogue No: E4663772
Label: Decca
Series: Legends
Length: 59 minutes

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Bartók: Duke Bluebeard's Castle, Sz. 48, Op. 11

Work length59:24

$6.80

$9.20

Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano), Walter Berry (bass (vocal))
London Symphony Orchestra
Istvan Kertesz
Recorded: 1965-11-12
Recording Venue: Kingsway Hall, London

Opening Scene. "Megérkeztünk"

Track length14:22

$0.85

$1.15

Door 1. "Jaj!...Mit látsz? Mit látsz?...Láncok, kések"

Track length4:18

$0.85

$1.15

Door 2. "Mit látsz?...Százkegyetlen szörnyü fegyver"

Track length4:11

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$1.15

Door 3. "Oh, be sok kincs! Oh, be sok kincs!"

Track length2:29

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$1.15

Door 4. "Oh! virágok! Oh! ilatoskert!"

Track length5:03

$0.85

$1.15

Door 5. "Ah!" "Lásdez az én birodalmam"

Track length6:53

$0.85

$1.15

Door 6. "Csendes fehér tavat látok"

Track length12:38

$0.85

$1.15

Door 7. "Lásd a régi aszszonyokat"

Track length9:30

$0.85

$1.15

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Favourites, Christa Ludwig at 90

16th March 2018

Katherine celebrates the great German mezzo's ninetieth birthday by picking out ten favourite recordings from her long and varied career.

Reviews

January 2012

Kertész shapes the music admirably, and Walter Berry makes an appropriately compassionate Bluebeard (as opposed to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau on DG, who is altogether too menacing); but neither Berry, nor, for all the beauty of her tone, Christa Ludwig sound idiomatically Hungarian.

Berry's assumption of the title-role — which is beautifully if not terribly idiomatically, sung suggests neither Angst nor impatience. Ludwig, too, was in wonderful voice at the time of this recording, and instances of her eloquence are far too numerous to list individually...Kertesz represents the opera's compassionate core...an exceptional performance, spectacularly well recorded.

16th March 2018

Ludwig and Berry also appear as ill-starred spouses on this tremendous 1965 recording of Bartók’s claustrophobic one-acter: the relationship between Bluebeard and his bride here is warmer and more compassionate than many of their rivals on disc, and though neither was especially familiar with Hungarian both offer nuanced word-painting that brings the sepulchral castle to eerie life.

Classics Today December 1999

The two protagonists are superb, Christa Ludwig in particular...Her high C at the opening of the fifth door indicates that she had nothing to fear from the competition...[Berry] offers an equally compelling, intelligent take on the enigmatic title character, and István Kertész's conducting is as idiomatic as one could wish. In short, this is a classic performance of a great work, one that in many ways has never been surpassed.

Offer,Bartók: Duke Bluebeard's Castle, Sz. 48, Op. 11

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