Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116

Stereo recording was in its infancy in 1955, but the version of Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra that conductor Fritz Reiner recorded that year was so good sonically that it’s still a leading version today. Reiner was a friend of Bartók, and his interpretation bristles with idiomatic sensitivity to his fellow Hungarian’s music. The second-movement “Presentando le coppie” (“Game of pairs”) is peppered with wonderfully piquant woodwind playing, while the central “Elegia” is full of nocturnal fantasy, with impassioned interjections from the upper strings. In the finale, Reiner finds an exhilarating blend of rhythmic elasticity and propulsive forward movement. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, of which Reiner was music director at the time, plays with scintillating brilliance throughout this classic performance.