Béla Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle - Jessye Norman / László Polgár / Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Pierre Boulez

Amazon.com

But for one thing, this has the makings of a classic. Pierre Boulez's recent Bartok recordings with the Chicago orchestra have been standard-setting. And Jessye Norman couldn't be better equipped, vocally and dramatically, to sing Judith. She doesn't disappoint: Her grand temperament suits her character's aggressively curious nature while her increasingly dark lower range is put to good use in conveying the awe and horror of what she finds while probing her husband's past. Polgar is also alert to the dramatic turns of Bluebeard. However, Boulez seems a bit less involved--less coloristically attuned to the score than in past Bartok recordings. But this CD is still of great interest. --David Patrick Stearns

Review

[Jessye Norman] feasts on Bluebeard's dramatic content, singing the Hungarian text with every confidence, using her increasingly dark lower range to convey the character's shock, wonder and obsession.... -- USA Today

[Pierre] Boulez sees Bluebeard's Castle as an implacable ritual, not a drama, and he carefully controls every element of it. The numerous woodwind solos ... are here subdued and precise. As Bluebeard, Laszlo Polgar sings purely and truly.... Jessye Norman as Judith is asked to use the dark, mezzo colors of her voice almost exclusively. The recorded sound, some artificial decay after the big climaxes aside, is true and well balanced. -- Opera News, ISBN13: B000009CMO ISBN10: B000009CMO Material Type: audioCD