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Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle – LSO Live

Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle

  • Catalogue Number LSO0685
    UPC 822231168522

    James Mallinson producer
    Jonathan Stokes and Neil Hutchinson for Classic Sound Ltd sound engineers

    Recorded January 2009, Barbican, London

    DSD (Direct Stream Digital) recording
    Notes in English / en français / auf Deutsch
    Text in Hungarian with English translation
    Sung in Hungarian (spoken prologue in English)

  • Opera Magazine’s Disc of the Month
    'Gergiev’s Bluebeard passes beyond shattering into a realm even more deeply disturbing.’

    BBC Music Magazine’s Opera Choice of the Month
    'Gergiev and his superlative forces and vocal soloists, supported by magnificent sound quality, present the enigmatic piece with great power.'

    'All the restless qualities of the underlying and shadowy string themes are sketched in an appropriately unsettling way. Vitally for this score, the woodwind figures add their eerie colours and decorative dissonance to great effect, the clarinet making a particularly telling contribution – wonderful playing... Orchestral textures are remarkably clear and Bartók’s highly individual percussive effects make their full impact. Gergiev is most considerate to his singers, even at the most grandiose and loud moments.'
    Classical Source

£8.99

Valery Gergiev, London Symphony Orchestra


Bartók’s only opera is an intense drama, involving only two characters and underpinned by a rich orchestral score. Bluebeard’s young bride persuades him to open seven doors in his castle to let the light in. Behind each door she finds increasingly disturbing sights, until the final door opens to reveal the castle’s secret and her fate.


Composer   Bartók
Conductor   Valery Gergiev
Performers   London Symphony Orchestra
Soloists   Elena Zhidkova, Sir Willard White

Track list
1. Prologue and Introduction
2. First Door - Bluebeard's Torture Chamber
3. Second Door - the Armoury
4. Third Door - the Treasury
5. Fourth Door - the Garden
6. Fifth Door - Bluebeard's Vast and Beautiful Kingdom
7. Sixth Door - the Lake of Tears
8. Seventh Door - Bluebeard's Wives

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