Gramophone Magazine
March 2023
Editor's Choice

Presto Editor's Choice
February 2023

WDR Sinfonieorchester, Cristian Măcelaru

Bartók: The Wooden Prince
Bartók: Dance Suite, BB 86, Sz. 77

Following their first album for Linn (Dvořák: Legends Op. 59, Czech Suite Op. 39), the WDR Sinfonieorchester and Cristian Măcelaru pursue the same folk vein with two orchestral works by Béla Bartók. Based on a rather childish tale (prince, princess, fairies, and of course a happy ending!), the music of the ballet The Wooden Prince – recorded in full here – has all the ingredients of a masterpiece: masterful scoring for large forces, use of musical themes, an effortless amalgam of folk and late-Romantic elements. Composed in 1923 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the merging of the towns of Buda and Pest – alongside commissions by Ernö Dohnányi and Zoltán Kodály – the century-old Dance Suite is a six-movement work that has become one of Bartók’s best known compositions. Born in Timișoara, a short distance from Hungaria, Măcelaru can boast an unparalleled understanding of Bartók, as evident here.

"It's great to hear Bartók's one-act fairy-tale ballet in its entirety here, especially in a performance as vivid and colourful as this: Măcelaru gets the balance between spikiness and sensuality just right, and every section of the Cologne orchestra is on peak form, with incisive, edgy work from the woodwinds (particularly in the bucolic early stretches of the piece) and understatedly gorgeous solos from the leader towards the end. And the numerous moments of organised chaos come off brilliantly." - Katherine Cooper, Presto Music, February 2023.