By MS65515
06-May-2011

Brilliant bargain Bartok from Beinum  

I just got lucky last week (in musical terms) when I stumbled upon a review of a CD I didn't even know existed! When I realised that it was available as a download for only £1.99 I jumped!

The performance is legendary because the chief conductor of the famous Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra (before he died and Haitink took over) was the much underrated Eduard van Beinum, noted for his passionate musicianship and ability to bring out the real core of a work. I have about a dozen recordings of Bartok's "MUSPAC" but this is the most exciting as well as the swiftest, especially in the second movement; ok, in such atmospheric music modern, stereo sound is always preferable, but to be honest, once you listen to the excellence of the performance you forget about any sound quality issues - the sound is good for 1953, very clear and analytical with a nice bit of reverb thrown in.

If you love this Bartok work as much as I do, you owe it to yourself to bag the bargain of a lifetime I even enjoyed the Stravinsky piece, which I wouldn't normally even bother listening to, so this proves that van Beinum had a kind of magic!

I can't recommend this download highly enough - a real hidden gem!
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By Brian Wilson
MusicWeb International
01-Oct-2009