Bartok from Sándor and Ormandy, Plus Miaskovsky

Not long ago, I featured György Sándor's sublime rendition of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto, mentioning that at the time of recording in early 1946, the pianist was about to premiere the Third Piano Concerto of the recently deceased Béla Bartók.

Both the premiere and this subsequent recording were with with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy. Columbia issued the Bartók as a 78 set (M-674) that year, and then transferred it to the new LP format in 1949. There, it was coupled with the Ormandy recording of the Symphony No. 21 of the then-living Russian composer Nikolai Miaskovsky (today usually transliterated as Myaskovsky), set down in 1947.

Sándor and Bartók

Sándor was a Bartók pupil and was closely associated with that master. He would record the Third Concerto two more times, first with the young Michael Gielen and a Vienna orchestra in 1959, and then with Adám Fischer and the Hungarian State Orchestra in 1990. As a bonus to the Philadelphia recording, I've transferred the Vienna rendition and included it in the download. Originally on the Vox label, it is an early stereo effort, with Sándor crowded over to the right of the sound stage. My transfer is from a later Turnabout pressing.

Both Bartók performances are quite good. As might be expected, the Philadelphians have more tonal allure than the Vienna band, but the playing on both is alert and Sándor is impressive, as always.

Miaskovsky

Don't skip the Miaskovsky symphony, which is well worth getting to know and wonderfully handled by Ormandy and his troops. The Chicago Symphony and Frederick Stock commissioned the work, which dates from 1940, but did not record it, to my knowledge. The first recording was by Nathan Rachlin (aka Natan Rahklin) with the USSR State Symphony Orchestra in 1941.

Bartók 78 set cover

Both the Bartók 78 set and the subsequent LP have covers by Alex Steinweiss. The LP art has fun with stereotypes, as that artist often did. I'm not sure what he is depicting on the 78 cover. A piano hammer? An avocado? Perhaps someone more perceptive than I am can decipher it.

LINK to 2026 remastered version

Bartók with Lili Kraus

Another in a quick series of recordings from American Decca's 4000 series of 10-inchers from the early 50s.

My first entry (Julius Baker in music by Foote and Griffes) was recorded by Decca for the series itself, but most entries in the 4000 series were reprints of European recordings, mainly from Deutsche Grammophon.

Young Lili Kraus

This present entry, however, comes from Parlophone, and was inscribed as early as 1938. The artist is Lili Kraus, whom I had always typed as a classical-era specialist, probably because he did a Mozart concerto cycle in the 1960s - but here she is playing the music of Béla Bartók, and does very well indeed with these very attractive folk-derived compositions.

It turns out that Kraus studied for a time with the composer, and her playing here is - to my non-Magyar ears - highly idiomatic. The piano tone is truthful, although Decca's transfer to LP was somewhat grainy. My biggest objection is that this is a very short record. I believe the original issue was on two 10-inch 78s. Good listening, though.

LINK to 2026 remaster