Because of its essentially static dramatic action, Bartók's only opera, Bluebeard's Castle, is perhaps as well suited to recordings and concert performances as to the opera house, and it has fared wonderfully well on disc. This outstanding version, with Valery Gergiev leading the London Symphony Orchestra and mezzo-soprano Elena Zhidkova and bass-baritone Willard White, deserves a place among the very finest recordings of the opera. Gergiev's reading is well balanced; he doesn't hold back on the primal violence of its ...
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Because of its essentially static dramatic action, Bartók's only opera, Bluebeard's Castle, is perhaps as well suited to recordings and concert performances as to the opera house, and it has fared wonderfully well on disc. This outstanding version, with Valery Gergiev leading the London Symphony Orchestra and mezzo-soprano Elena Zhidkova and bass-baritone Willard White, deserves a place among the very finest recordings of the opera. Gergiev's reading is well balanced; he doesn't hold back on the primal violence of its darker moments, but his is essentially a sweepingly Romantic take on the score. Throughout, the London Symphony Orchestra's playing is absolutely clean, and its tone is blazingly radiant and luxurious; Bartók's gorgeous, somber orchestration is revealed in all its variegated richness. Gergiev's attentiveness to details of articulation and dynamics accentuate the composer's careful structuring of the score, and the contrast between the scenes is strikingly dramatic. The only reservation is...
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![Béla Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle [Hybrid SACD] - Elena Zhidkova (mezzo-soprano); Willard White (bass baritone); London Symphony Orchestra; Valery Gergiev (conductor)](https://www2.alibris-static.com/b%C3%A9la-bart%C3%B3k-bluebeards-castle-hybrid-sacd/cover/m76172cmwjk_l.jpg)
![Béla Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle [Hybrid SACD]](https://www1.alibris-static.com/b%C3%A9la-bart%C3%B3k-bluebeards-castle-hybrid-sacd/cover/m76172cmwjk.jpg)
