[.ca] Miraculous Mandarin

Amazon.com essential recording:
The Miraculous Mandarin is, along with Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, one of the great expressions of musical savagery, and here the composer illustrates the "urban jungle." The music opens with sounds of traffic and commotion, and it's an expressionist nightmare from that point on. Three men mug a woman and force her to lure men into their den to be robbed in turn. One of them turns out to be a wealthy Chinese man whose passion for the woman is so strong that, despite being stabbed, suffocated, and strung up on a lamp cord, he will not die until the woman permits him to embrace her. Then his wounds open and he bleeds to death. Quite a story, and the music, as well as this performance, suits it perfectly. Have fun. --David Hurwitz

Darkly Beautiful:
In response to one of the reviews posted here, I must disagree with the statement that Boulez's conducting makes these works "cynical, pedantic and profoundly ugly." But then, I've never heard the Leonard Bernstein version of The Miraculous Mandarin, so he may have a point (please note sarcasm). These pieces are conducted in a very unromantic style that suits these works well in particular, and Bartok's entire output in general. There's nothing conventionally "pretty" at all about these works. But they are both truly beautiful, in a profoundly dark sense. The Miraculous Mandarin depicts the violence and the desperation of the story it is based upon, while the Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta is possibly the greatest orchestral work of the twentieth-century. Vivaldi this is not.

ONE OF BARTOK'S MASTERPIECES.:
I think I'm kind of an idiot about classical music, so I can only make basic comments here. Music for Percussion, Strings, and Celesta is one of Bartok's greatest works, and as such is one of the greatest works in all of Western music. Despite the ostensible eminence the celesta is given in the title of the piece, the dominant keyboard instrument is piano, which is part of the percussion ensemble that serves as the anchor for two string sections. The piece is an amazing exploration of opposites, especially its use of chromatic and diatonic elements. The first movement is a chromatic fugue for strings, and Bartok's use of changing meters gives it a watery effect. From the first movement you can already tell it is one of Bartok's best compositions, simply because every note is so exceptionally placed and the flow is so natural. The second movement is an exhilarating allegro, a tight mesh of melodic themes manipulated with rhythmic and metric variation. The third movement is intensely chromatic "night music" with obscure tonality and fragmentary melodies. Best of all, the fourth movement, where diatonic considerations come to the fore and it is the most varied in rhythm, melody, and pitch, but still structurally sublime. Throughout the piece, the key subjects are changed into new subjects, which undergo their own changes, and eventually morphing back into previous themes. This is done with such uncanny perfection that the music really feels like it takes you places. I know that sounds cheesy. I won't discuss _The Miraculous Mandarin_, though it is very good as well. Get this if you want to hear a divine performance of one of the musical universe's greatest treasures. (Sorry for the CAPS above, I know it's annoying.)

Essential Bartok:
On this disc are two of Bartok's greatest works. The first, The Miraculous Mandarin, is one of his most violent and suggestive. It is very vivid music, painting a palpably clear orchestral picture of the sex and violence of Lengyel's scenario. This is Bartok at his best; blaring brass, screaming strings, pounding percussion. There are also many moments of extreme delicacy; the clarinet solo of the young woman seducing male passers-by, or the moment when the Mandarin's body begins to glow, heightened by a low, wordless chorus. The vivid orchestral storytelling of Mandarin is offset by one of Bartok's most abstract pieces, Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. This is another Bartok masterpiece. Pierre Boulez conducts Bartok's music very well, and this is no exception. Due to the great quality of the playing, conducting, recording and the music itself, and the fact that there are so few complete Mandarins on the market, I would suggest you pick this one up as soon as possible.

Boulez and Bartok, a great combination:
No one handle Bartok better in our time like Boulez (Fischer and Salonen runners up). "Music for strings, percussion and celesta" is one of last centures greatest work and Boulez and Orchestra do this fantastic. The "The miraculous mandarin" is a bonus and also one of Bartoks greatest. Great sound too. Buy this version and you have a (two) masterpiece (s).

A Disk For People Who Dislike Music:
Maestro Boulez has a fantastic ear, good technique, and a formidable intellect. He has one slight impediment to conducting: he doesn't care for music very much. Or at least not music that embodies thought and feeling. Music for Strings is one of the most sublime testaments in Western music. The shattering climax of the first movement couldn't make Bartok's meaning plainer. But you'll never learn that from this perverse rendition. Boulez deliberately ignores the forceful accents, smoothing over them because he finds strong accents sentimental and stupid. The result is cynical, pedantic, and profoundly ugly. And the less said of this decidedly less than Miraculous Mandarin, the better. Any recording by a conductor who sympathizes with this music is preferable.

• The Miraculous Mandarian: 01 Beginning
• The Miraculous Mandarian: 02 First seduction game: the shabby old rake
• The Miraculous Mandarian: 03 Second seduction game
• The Miraculous Mandarian: 04 Third seduction game
• The Miraculous Mandarian: 05 The Mandarin enters and remains immobile in the doorway
• The Miraculous Mandarian: 06 The girl sinks down to embrace him
• The Miraculous Mandarian: 07 The tramps leap out, seize the Mandarin and tear him away from the girl
• The Miraculous Mandarian: 08 Suddenly the Mandarin's head appears between the pillows and he looks longingly at the girl
• The Miraculous Mandarian: 09 The terrified tramps discuss how they are to get red of the Mandarin at last
• The Miraculous Mandarian: 10 The body of the Mandarin begins to glow with a greenish blue light
• The Miraculous Mandarian: 11 She resists no longer, - they embrace
• Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta Sz 106: 1 Andante tranquillo
• Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta Sz 106: 2 Allegro
• Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta Sz 106: 3 Adagio
• Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta Sz 106: 4 Allegro molto